BS  2397  .B48  1867 

Bernard,  Thomas  Dehany,  181 

-1904. 
The  progress  of  doctrine  in 


GOULD   AND    LINCOLN, 

59  WASHINGTON  STREET,  BOSTON, 

*<7"oul(i  call  particular  attention  to  the  following  val'as^b^e  works  desoribed 
in  their  Catalogue  of  Publications,  y\2. : 

Hugh.   Miller's    "Works. 

Bayne's  WorkL.       "Walker's  "Works.       Miall's  "Wor'kif.       Biingener's   "Worlc 

Animal  of  Scientific  Discovery.      Knight-a  Karjo-^edge  is  Power. 

Krummaclier's   Svffeling  Rav'our, 

Banvard's   American  Histories.      Tj.e  Aimwell   Stories. 

*reweomb*s  "Works.     Tweedie's  Works.     ChamV^rs's  "Works.     Harris'  Works, 

Kitto's   Cyclopaedia   of  Eioliaal   Literature. 

Mrs.  Knight's   Life  of  Montgomery.        ditto's  History  of  Palestine. 

Whewell'B  Work,     W«'.y land's  TSTorks.     Agassiz's  Works. 


■Williams'  "Works.     Guyot's  "Works. 

Tliompson's  Better  Land.     Kimball's  Heaven.    "Valuable  "Works  on  Missioos. 

Haven's  Mental  Philosophy.     Buchanan's  Modern  Atheism. 

Cruden's  Condensed  Concordance.     Eadie's  Analytical  Concordance* 

The  Psalmist :  a  Collection    of  Hymns. 

Valuable  School  Books.     "Works  for  Sabbath  Schools. 

Memoir  of  Amos  Lawrence. 

Poetical  "Works  of  Milton,  Cowper,  Scott.       Elegant  Miniature  Volumes, 

Arvine's  Cyclopaedia  of  Anecdotes. 

Bipley's  Notes  on  G-ospels,  Acts,  and  Homans. 

Spragne's  European  Celebrities.     Marsh's  Camel  and  the  Halllg. 

Boget's  Thesaurus  of  English  "Words. 

Hackett's  Notes  on  Acts.     M'Whorter's  Yahveh  Christ. 

Siebold  and  Stannius's  Comparative  Anatomy.  Marcou'sGeolog^ical  Map,  TJ,  3^ 

Heligious  and  Miscellaneous  Works. 

Works  in  the  various  Departments  of  Literature,  Science  and  Art. 


(Banh  auir  ^xntolix^  |Jubruiitions. 


BAVEX'S  MENTAL  PMILOSOPHT ;  Including  the  Intellect,  the  Sensi- 
bilities,  and  the   Will.    By  Joseph    Havex,   Professor  of  Intellectual  and 
Moral  Philosophy,  Chicago  University.    Royal  12mo,  cloth,  embossed,  2.00. 
It  is  believed  this  work  will  be  found  preeminently  distinguished  for  the  Completeness  with 

trhJch  it  presents  the  whole  subject. 

SAVEX'S  MORAL  PHILOSOPHY :   Including  Theoretical  and  Practical 
Ethics.    By  Joseph  Haven,  D.  D.,  late  Professor  of  Moral  and  Intellectual 
Philosophy  in  Chicago  University.    Royal  12mo,  cloth,  embossed,  1.75. 
It  is  eminently  scientific  in  method,  and  thorough  in  discussion,  and  its  views  on  unsettled  ques- 
tions in  morals  are  discriminating  and  sound. 

MOPKIXS'  LECTJJItES   OX  MOHAL  SCIEXCE,  delivered  before  the 
Lowell  Institute,  Boston,  by  Mark  Hopkins,  D.  D.,  President  of  "Williams 
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use  of  Schools  and  Academies,  by  the  Author.    Half  mor.,  70  cts. 
The  same,  Cheap  School  Edition,  boards,  45  cts. 

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All  the  above  works  by  Dr.  Wayland  are  used  as  text-books  in  most  of  the  colleges  and  higher 
ichools  throughout  the  Union,  and  are  highly  approved. 

AGASSIZ  AXD  GOULD'S  PRIXCIPLES  OF  ZOOLOGY;  Touching 
the  Structure,  Development,  Distribution,  and  Natural  Arranj^ement,  of  the 
Races  of  Animals,  living  and  extinct,  with  numerous  Illustrations.  For 
the  use  of  Schools  and  Colleges.  Part  I.  Comparative  Physiology.  By 
Louis  Agassiz  and  Augustus  A.  Gould.    Revised  edition.    1.50. 

PART  II.    Systematic  Zoology.    In  preparation. 
"  It  is  simple  and  elementary  in  its  style,  full  in  its  illustrations,  comprehensive  in  its  range,  yet 
well  condensed,  and  brought  into  the  narrow  compass  requisite  for  the  purpose  intended."  —  S(//i- 
man's  Journal, 

RITTER'S  GEOGRAPHICAL  STUDIES.    Translated  from  the  German 
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%apers  on  Physical  Geography. 

PROG  RESSIJE    PEXMAXSHIP,  Plain  and  ornamental,  for  the  use  of 

Schools.    By  X.  D.  Gould,  author  of  "  Beauties  of  Writing,"  "  Writing  Ma> 
ter's  Assi.«!tant,"  etc.    In  five  parts,  each,  20  cts. 


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of  Modern  times.  Lectures  delivered  in  the  Oxford  University  Pulpit,  on  the 
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TRANSLATED  for  the  American  edition.     12mo,  cloth,  1.75 

"Th&consumate  learning,  judgment,  and  general  ability  displayed  by  Mr.  Rawlinson  in  his  edition 
of  Herodotus  are  exhibited  in  this  work  also."  —  North  American  Review. 

"  In  its  special  application  of  secular  history  to  the  illustration  of  the  sacred  record ;  it  possesses  an 
interest  and  value  for  Biblical  students,  which  can  hardly  be  expressed  in  words.  AVe  see  not  how 
any  man  of  candor  can  read  this  volume  and  retain  a  doubt  as  to  the  authenticity  of  the  historical  books 
of  the  Old  Testament."  —  N.  Y.  Independent. 

PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT;  Lectures  ON 
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IJubcaix  '^§zdmm. 


LIFE  OF  CHRIST  HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED.  The  Ilulsean  Lectures 
Avith  Notes  Critical,  Historical,  and  Explanatory.  By  C.  J.  Ellicott,  B.D. 
Royal  12m o,  cloth,  1.75 

"  Prof.  Ellicott  has  shown  himself  to  be  a  true  scholar.     He  is  doubtless  among  the  very  first  of  all 
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INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE  GOSPELS.  With  Historical  and 
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bridge. With  an  Introduction  by  Prof.  H.  B.  Hackett,  D.D.  Royal  12mo, 
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THE 


PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE 


NEW   TESTAMENT, 


CONSIDERED   IN  EIGHT  LECTURES  DELIVERED   BEFORE   THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  OXFORD, 


CIj^  §  amp  ton:  Jfnuniraibtt* 

B  Y 

THOMAS  DEHANY  BERNARD,  M.A., 

OF   EXETER  COLLEGE,  AXD   RECTOR  OF   WALCOT. 
FROM    THE 

SECOND  LONDON  EDITION^    WITH  IMPROVEMENTS. 


BOSTON: 

G-OTJlL.r>     J^l^  ID     IjIN"COLI^, 

59    WASHINGTON     STREET. 

KEW    YORK:      SHELDON    AND    C O M P A N Y . 

CINCIXNATI:    G.    S.   BLANCHARD   i   CO. 

1867. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867,  by 

GOULD       AND       LINCOLN, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


STEREOTYPED  AND  PRINTED  BT 
ROCKWELL      &      ROLLINS. 


■1  ■,!■-• 


PREFATORY   NOTE 

TO 

The  Bampton  Lectures  of  Mr.  Bernard  on  the  Progress  of  Doc- 
trine in  the  New  Testament,  deserve  unqualified  commendation ; 
for  they  are  as  nearly  perfect  both  in  substance  and  form  as  any 
human  production  can  well  be  made.  The  views  which  they 
express  are  fresh  and  convincing,  and  the  language  in  which  they 
are  presented  is  clear  as  crystal,  revealing  every  thought  and 
shade  of  thought  with  absolute  distinctness.  There  is  not,  I 
believe,  a  dark  or  dull  sentence  in  the  volume. 

The  argument  awakens  curiosity,  satisfies  reason,  and  strength- 
ens faith.  There  is  constant  progress  from  first  to  last,  and  the 
reader  is  made  to  see  that  every  step  in  advance  is  safe,  that  he  is 
moving  steadily  forward  on  solid  ground.  I  have  rarely  perused 
a  more  attractive  or  instructive  work,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
pronounce  it  one  of  the  best  fruits  of  biblical  study  in  modern 
times.  No  person  can  read  it  without  having  his  interest  in  the 
New  Testament  and  his  knowledge  of  that  wonderful  book 
greatly  increased. 

For  the  benefit  of  the  general  reader,  the  untranslated  sen- 
tences of  the  author's  edition  have,  in  most  cases,  been  translated, 
and  the  Greek  itself  placed  as  foot-notes. 

ALVAH  HOVEY. 
Newton  Theological  Institutiow,  May  1,  1867. 

vii 


EXTRACT 

FROM 

THE  LAST  WILL  AND  TESTAMENT 

OF    THE    LATE 

KEY.     JOHN     B  A  M  P  T  O  N, 

CANON    OF    SALISBURY. 


.  .  .  "I  give  and  bequeath  my  Lands  and  Estates  to  the  Chan- 
cellor, Masters,  and  Scholars  of  the  University  of  Oxford  for- 
ever, to  have  and  to  hold  all  and  singular  the  said  Lands  or  Es- 
tates upon  trust,  and  to  the  intents  and  purposes  hereinafter  men- 
tioned ;  that  is  to  say,  I  will  and  appoint  that  the  Vice-Chancellor 
of  the  University  of  Oxford  for  the  time  being  shall  take  and  re- 
ceive all  the  rents,  issues,  and  profits  thereof,  and  (after  all  taxes, 
reparations,  and  necessary  deductions  made)  that  he  pay  all  the 
remainder  to  the  endowment  of  Eight  Divinity  Lecture  Sermons, 
to  be  established  forever  in  the  said  University,  and  to  be  per- 
formed in  the  manner  following : 

"I  direct  and  appoint,  that,  upon  the  first  Tuesday  in  Easter 

Term,  a  Lecturer  be  yearly  chosen  by  the  Heads   of  Colleges 

only,  and  by  no   others,  in  the  room  adjoining  to  tlie  Printing- 

House,  between  the  hours  of  ten  in  the  morning  and  two  in  the 

afternoon,  to  preach   eight  Divinity  Lecture   Sermons,  the  year 

following,  at  St.  Mary's  in  Oxford,  between  the  commencement 

ix 


X  EXTRACT   FROM   BAMPTON'S   WILL. 

of  the  last  month  in  Lent  Term,  and  the  end  of  the  third  week  in 
Act  Term. 

'*Also  I  direct  and  appoint,  that  the  eight  Divinity  Lecture 
Sermons  shall  be  preached  upon  either  of  the  following  subjects 
—  to  confirm ^and  establish  the  Christian  Faith,  and  to  confute  all 
heretics  and  schismatics— upon  the  divine  authority  of  the  holy 
Scriptures — upon  the  authority  of  the  writings  of  the  primitive 
Fathers,  as  to  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  primitive  Church  — 
upon  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  —  upon 
the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost  —  upon  the  Articles  of  the  Chris- 
tian Faith,  as  comprehended  in  the  Apostles'  and  Nicene  Creeds. 

**  Also  I  direct,  that  thirty  copies  of  the  eight  Divinity  Lecture 
Sermons  shall  alwaj's  be  printed,  within  two  months  after  they 
are  preached ;  and  one  copy  shall  be  given  to  the  Chancellor  of 
the  University,  and  one  copy  to  the  Head  of  every  College,  and 
one  copy  to  the  Mayor  of  the  city  of  Oxford,  and  one  copy  to  be 
put  into  the  Bodleian  Library  ;  and  the  expgnse  of  printing  them 
shall  be  paid  out  of  the  revenue  of  the  Land  or  Estates  given  for 
establishing  the  Divinity  Lecture  Sermons ;  and  the  preacher  shall 
not  be  paid,  nor  be  entitled  to  the  revenue,  before  they  are 
printed. 

**  Also  I  direct  and  appoint,  that  no  person  shall  bo  qualified  to 
preach  the  Divinity  Lecture  Sermons,  unless  he  hath  taken  the 
degi'ee  of  Master  of  Arts  at  least,  in  one  of  the  two  Universities 
of  Oxford  or  Cambridge ;  and  that  the  same  person  shall  never 
preach  the  Divinity  Lecture  Sermons  twice." 


PREFACE. 


The  title  given  to  these  Lectures  may  perhaps  suggest  differ- 
ent expectations  as  to  their  scope.  It  may  appear  to  some  to 
announce  an  intention  of  drawing  from  the  New  Testament 
materials  for  a  historical  inquiry  into  the  growth  of  christian  doc- 
trine, as  it  took  place  in  the  minds  and  under  the  hands  of  the 
Apostles.  To  others  it  may  indicate  a  purpose  of  showing  that 
the  New  Testament  itself  exhibits  a  scheme  of  progressive  doc- 
trine, fashioned  for  permanent  and  universal  use.  The  Lectures 
-wdll  be  found  to  address  themselves  not  to  the  first,  but  to  the 
second  of  these  attempts ;  not  examining  the  New  Testament 
collection  in  order  to  ascertain  the  chronological  sequence  of 
fiict,  but  contemplating  it,  as  it  is,  for  the  purpose  of  observing 
the  actual  sequence  of  thought.  In  so  doing,  we  are  concerned, 
not  only  with  the  component  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  but 
with  the  order  in  which  they  are  placed.  On  this  subject  some 
prefatory  words  are  needed,  lest  it  should  seem  that  the  order 
here  followed  has  been  adopted  merely  because  it  comes  natu- 
rally to  us,  as  that  with  which  we  are  familiar  in  our  own  Bibles. 

When  tills  particular  arrangement  of  books,  which  may  be, 
and  often  have  been,  otherwise  arranged,  is  treated  as  involving 
a  course  of  progressive  teaching,  it  may  seem  that  an  unwarrant- 
able stress  is  laid  on  an  accidental  order,  which  some  may  regard 

as  little  more  than  a  habit  of  the  printer  and  the  binder.     The 

xi 


XU  PREFACE. 

Lectures  themselves  ought  to  give  the  answer  to  this  idea ;  for  if 
the  familiar  order  does  exhibit  a  sequence  of  thought  and  a  sus- 
tained advance  of  doctrine,  then  the  several  documents  are  in 
their  right  places,  according  to  the  highest  kind  of  relation  which 
they  can  bear  to  each  other ;  and  if  they  had  come  into  our  hands 
variously  and  promiscuously  arranged,  it  would  yet  be  incumbent 
on  one  who  would  study  them  as  a  whole,  to  place  them  before 
him  in  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same,  order  as  that  which  they 
have  actually  assumed. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  importance  here  ascribed  to  the  order 
of  the  books  is  ascribed  strongly  to  its  chief  divisions,  and  more 
faintly  to  its  details.  The  four  Gospels,  the  Book  of  Acts,  the 
collection  of  Epistles,  and  the  Apocalj'pse,  are  regarded  as  sev- 
erally exhibiting  definite  stages  in  the  course  of  divine  teaching, 
which  have  a  natural  fitness  to  succeed  each  other.  Within  these 
several  divisions,  the  order  of  the  four  Gospels  is  treated  as  hav- 
ing an  evident  doctrinal  significance  (Lecture  II.),  and  a  certain 
measure  of  propriety  and  fitness  is  attributed  to  the  relative  po- 
sitions of  the  Pauline  and  the  Catholic  Epistles,  and  again  in  a 
less  degree  to  that  of  the  several  Pauline  Epistles  themselves. 
(Lecture  VI.) 

But  while  it  belongs  to  the  scope  of  the  Lectures  to  point  out 
reasons  of  internal  fitness  for  a  certain  arrangement  of  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament,  it  does  not  enter  into  their  design  to  dis- 
cuss the  subject  on  its  other  side,  and  to  treat  of  the  custom  of 
the  Church  in  regard  to  the  order  of  the  canon.  Yet  this  is  a 
point  on  which,  in  some  minds,  inquiry  will  naturally  arise,  and 
to  them  some  short  account  of  the  state  of  the  case  is  due. 

In  speaking  of  the  custom  of  the  Church,  it  must  first  be  re- 
membered, that  the  New  Testament  was  not  given  and  received 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

% 

as  one  volume,  but  that  it  grew  together  by  recognition  and  use. 
As  the  several  books  gradually  coalesced  into  unity,  it  might  be 
expected  that  there  would  be  many  varieties  of  arrangement,  but 
that  they  would  on  the  whole  tend  to  assume  their  relative  places, 
according  to  the  law  of  internal  fitness,  rather  than  on  any  other 
principle  which  might  exercise  a  transient  influence,  as,  for  in- 
stance, that  of  the  relative  dignity  of  the  names  of  their  authors, 
or  that  of  their  chronological  production  or  recognition.  In  fact, 
this  tendency  shows  itself  at  once,  in  the  earliest  period  to  which 
our  inquiries  are  carried  back  by  extant  manuscripts,  by  cata- 
logues of  the  sacred  books  given  by  ancient  writers,  and  by  the 
habitual  arrangement  of  the  oldest  versions.  A  short  summary 
of  the  testimony  derived  from  these  sources  is  given  in  the  first 
Note  in  the  Appendix,  by  reference  to  two  writers  whose  works 
have  laid  the  Church  under  no  common  obligations.  (^)  From 
that  review  of  the  case,  it  will  be  apparent  that  the  order  in 
which  we  now  read  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  is  that 
which,  on  the  whole,  they  have  tended  to  assume ;  and  that  the 
general  internal  arrangement,  by  which  the  entire  collection 
forms  for  us  a  consecutive  course  of  teaching,  has  been  suffi- 
ciently recognized  by  the  instinct,  and  fixed  by  the  habit,  of 
the  Church. 

It  remains  to  add  a  word  of  explanation  as  to  the  method  in 
which  the  Progress  of  Doctrine  in  the  New  Testament  has  been 
here  treated.  Two  ways  of  handling  the  subject  may  suggest 
themselves :  one,  that  of  exhibiting  the  gradual  development  of 
particular  doctrines,  through  successive  stages  of  the  divine  course 
of  instruction ;  the  other,  that  of  marking  the  characteristics  and 
functions  of  those   stages  themselves  as  parts  of  a  progressive 


(1)  Numbers  icitliin  parentheses,  in  the  text,  refer  to  Notes  at  the  close  of  tJie 
volume}  those  ivithout  parentheses,  to  foot-notes, 
2 


XIV  PREFACE. 

scheme.  The  first  method  would  be  suited  to  the  purpose  of 
jnoving  the  fact  of  the  progress  cf  doctrine  ;  the  second,  to  the 
purpose  of  slioidng  that  that  fact  involves  the  unity  of  a  divine  plan  ^ 
and  therefore  the  continuity  of  a  divine  authority.  The  hitter 
purpose  appeared  the  more  likely  to  be  practicalh'  useful,  at  least 
in  the  present  day.  The  advanced  character  of  the  doctrine  in 
some  books,  as  compared  with  others,  is  indeed  sufficiently  obvi- 
ous, and  is  not  only  admitted,  but  sometimes  exaggerated  into  a 
supposed  incongruity,  or  even  inconsistency,  in  the  views  of  the 
sacred  writers.  It  vv^as,  then,  not  the  reality  of  the  progress  of 
doctrine,  but  the  true  character  of  it,  which  seemed  especially  to 
solicit  attention ;  and  in  this  point  of  view  the  subject  is  here 
considered. 

It  was  in  fact  originally  suggested  by  the  strong  disposition, 
evinced  by  some  eminent  writers  and  preachers,  to  make  a  broad 
separation  between  the  words  of  the  Lord  and  the  teaching  of 
his  Apostles,  and  to  treat  the  definite  statements  of  doctrine  in 
the  Epistles,  rather  as  individual  varieties  of  opinion  on  the  reve- 
lation recorded  in  the  Gospels,  than  as  the  form  in  which  the 
Lord  Jesus  has  perfected  for  us  the  one  revelation  of  himself. 

Such  a  habit  of  thought  must  frastrate  the  provision  Avhich  our 
gi"eat  Teacher  has  made  for  enduing  those  that  believe  on  his 
name  with  the  vigor  of  a  distinct  and  the  repose  of  a  settled 
faith.  One  of  the  most  effectual  safeguards  against  that  danger 
will  be  found  in  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  progressive 
plan  on  which  God  has  taught  us  in  his  written  Word :  and  if  the 
view  which  is  taken  in  these  Lectures  of  the  range  of  New  Testa- 
ment teaching  should,  in  any  quarter  and  in  any  measure,  con- 
tribute to  that  end,  the  prayer  which  has  been  associated  with 
their  preparation  will  have  received  its  answer.  In  all  our  works 
the  first  and  the  last  resort  is  the  thought  of  that  mercy  which 


PREFACE.  XV 

answers  prayer.  I  have  need  to  revert  to  it  now.  One  who  has 
taken  up  a  subject  connected  with  the  Holy  Word,  under  a  strong 
sense  of  the  usefulness  which  may  belong  to  a  due  exposition  of 
it,  must  feel  a  proportionate  sorrow  in  the  review  of  an  inade- 
quate treatment.  But  it  is  enough.  The  desires  and  the  regrets 
which  attend  our  ministrations  in  the  Lord's  household  are  better 
uttered  to  God  than  to  man. 

For  one  defect  only  it  seems  right  to  offer  an  excuse.  I  think 
that  many  of  the  points,  which  in  the  Lectures  are  necessarily 
touched  in  a  cursory  manner,  ought  to  have  been  more  fully 
worked  out  and  illustrated  in  Notes  and  References;  and  it 
would  certainly  have  been  a  satisfaction,  in  rapidly  skirting  the 
confines  of  so  many  fields  of  recent  and  laborious  study,  to  bor- 
row contributions  from  writers  by  whom  they  have  been  thor- 
oughly explored.  Only  a  few  such  additions  have  been  made, 
as  they  occurred  at  the  moment.  I  may  be  allowed  to  plead  that 
the  circumstances  in  which  I  was  placed  during  the  preparation 
of  these  Lectures  have  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  do  more. 
Scarcely  had  this  office  been  confided  to  me,  before  I  was  called 
to  enter  on  the  care  of  a  parish  of  fifteen  thousand  souls,  the 
affairs  of  which  required  immediate,  and  have  compelled  almost 
incessant  attention.  Of  the  effect  of  this  pressure  of  duties  it 
will  not  be  proper  for  me  to  say  more,  than  that  it  has  caused  the 
omission  which  is  here  acknowledged. 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  LECTURES, 


LECTUEE  I. 

THE    NEW    TESTAMENT. 
(page   25.) 

St.  John  xvii.  8. 

Subject  proposed.    Its  connection  with  the  ministry  of  the  word,  and  \\ith  the 
present  tendencies  of  thought. 
I.  Preliminary  positions. 

1.  There  is  divine  teaching  in  the  Xew  Testament  — doctrine  given  by  the 

Father  to  the  Son  — by  the  Son  to  men. 

2.  The  divine  teaching  coincides  in  extent  with  the  Xew  Testament.  Not  to 
be  restricted  to  words  of  the  Lord  in  the  flesh.  Effect  of  such  restric- 
tion. Forbidden  by  the  Lord's  words.  Not  to  be  extended  througli  the 
whole  Christian  age.  Progress  of  doctrine  through  all  Church  history— 
is  a  progress  of  apprehension  by  man,  not  of  communication  by  God.  No 
advance  in  divine  teaching  after  the  apostolic  age  ever  admitted  by  the 
Church. 

3.  The  plan  of  the  divine  teaching  is  represented  in  the  New  Testament.    In 

what  sense  it  can  be  said  that  it  exhibits  a  scheme  of  doctrine  progres- 
sively developed. 
IT.  Outlines  of  the  sub.tect. 

1.  EeaUty  of  the  progress  of  doctrine.    Visible  in  the  Old  Testament  — in  the 

New  Testament. 

2.  Stages  in  the  progress  of  doctrine  in  the  New  Testament  —  marked  by  Gos- 

pels, Acts,  Epistles,  Apocalypse. 

3.  Principles  of  the  progress  of  doctrine  in  the  New  Testament— constituted 

by  the  relations  of  the  doctrine  (a)  to  its  Author,  (6)  to  the  facts  on  which 

xvii 


XVIU  CONTENTS. 

it  is  founded,  (c)  to  the  human  mind,  (cZ)  of  the  several  parts  of  the  doc- 
trine to  each  other. 
Survey  of  the  New  Testament  as  a  progressive  scheme. 

LECTURE    II. 

THE    GOSPELS. 
{page   53.) 

St.    Mark   i.    1. 

The  beginning  of  the  Gospel.    The  whole  life  and  ministry  of  Christ  on  earth 
may  be  thus  described — represented  in  the  New  Testament  by  the  four  Gospels. 

I.  The  Gospel  Collection  in  its  relation  to  the  whole  New  Testa- 

ment forms  the  initiatory  stage  of  a  progressive  plan.  Fitted  to  this  place 
and  function,  as  presenting  the  person  of  Christ.  Effect  of  the  transparent 
style  —  of  the  fourfold  repetition  —  of  the  fourfold  variation.  Communica- 
tion of  personal  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel. 

II.  The  Gospel  Collection  in  itself  exhibits  a  progressive  plan  — (1)  in  the 

division  of  two  distinct  stages ;  (2)  in  the  character  of  the  synoptic  Gospels 
relatively  to  each  other ;  (3)  in  the  character  of  St.  John's  Gospel  relatively 
to  the  others.  Unity  of  the  whole  representation  — one  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Unity  and  progress  in  the  parts  imply  design  in  the  whole  — the  Holy  Ghost 
the  designer. 
The  Gospel  Collection,  in  its  general  effect,  prepares  us  for  further  teaching  by 

creating  the  want,  giving  the  pledge,  depositing  the  material,  and  providing  the 

safeguard. 

LECTURE  in. 

THE    GOSPELS. 

{page  77.) 

Heb.    \\\.    3. 

The  Lord  himself  the  first  Teacher.    His  personal  teaching  iu  the  Gospels  is 
Initiatory. 


cox  TENTS.  XiX 

I.  1.  Includes  the  substance  of  all  Christian  doctrine.    Its  occasional  character  — 

but  the  occasions  pre-ordained.  Instances  of  pregnant  sayings. 
2.  Tet  does  not  bear  the  character  offinaUtjj, —  a.  in  its  form  —  6.  in  its  method 
—  c.  in  its  substance  —  as  moral  teaching,  full  and  open,  as  revelation  of  a 
mystery,  reserved  and  anticipatory.  The  mystery  being  fundamental  to 
the  ethic,  this  reserve  creates  the  need  of  further  teaching.  Instances  in 
the  doctrines  of  Forgiveness  of  sin  and  Acceptance  in  prayer. 

II.  1.  Is  a  visibly  progressive  system.    Comparison  of  the  first  and  the  last  dis- 

courses, Matt,  v.-vii.  and  John  xiv.-xvii. 
2.  Tet  declares  itself  incomplete,  and  refers  us  to  a  subsequent  stage  of  teach- 
ing.   Transitional  character  of  the  last  discourse.     Plain  assertions  of 
incompleteness.    Promises  of  things  to  be  spoken  after.    The  personal 
teachings  of  Christ  to  be  completed  in  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit. 
Saving  purpose  of  the  whole  testimony,  which  only  attains  its  end  in  those  who 
"  have  life  through  his  name." 

LECTURE    IV. 

THE    ACTS    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 

{page     102.) 

Acts   i.    1-4. 

The  Gospels  and  the  Acts  linked  together  as  parts  of  one  scheme  —  the  one 

commencing,  the  other  continuing,  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ.    Two  points  to 

be  observed  in  the  second  stage  of  divine  teaching  in  the  New  Testament. 

I.  The  Teacher  is  the  same.    Evidence  of  this.    The  Book  of  Acts  is  a  record 

of  the  personal  action  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  perfecting  of  his  word  and 

the  formation  of  his  Church.    The  method  of  this  action :  — 

1.  Special  interventions.    Survey  of  these.    Given  at  critical  moments,  and  at 

the  steps  of  progress— particularly  in  the  history  of  St.  Paul.  Relations 
of  the  course  of  action  to  the  course  of  doctrine,  —  as  the  pledge  of  its 
authority  —  as  the  means  of  its  completion.  Testimony  of  the  Epistles 
to  this  personal  action  of  the  Lord  in  the  progress  of  doctrine.  St.  Paul's 
statements  as  to  the  sources  of  his  doctrine. 

2.  HcMtual  guidance  of  the  Apostles  by  the  Holy  Ghost.    Nature  of  the  gift 

at  Pentecost  —  shown,  from  the  promise,  from  the  facts,  and  from  the 


XX  CONTENTS. 

testimony  of  the  Apostles,  to  have  involved  the  Gospel  itself.    Hence  a 
divine  authority  attaches  to  the  whole  Apostolic  teaching,  in  its  interpre- 
tations and  inferences  as  well  as  in  its  witness  of  facts. 
II.  The  method  is  changed.    Reason  for  the  change.    The  change  is  a  sign 
and  means  of  progress.    The  history  of  salvation  being  finished,  must  be 
followed  by  the  interpretation  of  it,  and  by  the  exhibition  of  its  effects  in 
human  consciousness.    This  is  achieved  by  the  change  in  the  method  of 
divine  teaching,  signified  by  the  words,  "  He  dwelleth  with  you  and  shall 
be  in  you."    Action  of  the  indwelling  Spirit  to  be  distinguished  according 
to  its  purpose  — in  the  founders  of  the  Church  to  communicate  truth  — in 
the  members  of  the  Church  to  receive  it. 


LECTURE  V. 

THE    ACTS    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 
{page    127.) 
Acts    v.   4  2. 

Further  questions  to  be  answered  by  the  Book  of  Acts.  Its  purpose  to  answer 
them.  Character  and  scheme  of  the  Book.  Its  place  and  function  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  doctrine. 

I.  It  gives  the  general  character  of  the  christian  doctrine  in  its  second 

stage. 

1.  A  Preaching  of  Christ.    Comparison  of  the  preaching  recorded  in  the 

Gospels  and  that  recorded  in  the  Acts  —  the  one  of  the  kingdom,  the  other 
of  the  person.  The  difference  in  the  preaching  accounts  for  the  difference 
in  the  effect. 

2.  A  PREACHING  OF  THE  'WORK  OF  CHRIST,  in  its  main  features  and  their 

results  —  of  his  death  as  the  source  of  forgiveness,  of  his  resurrection  as 
the  source  of  life.  Progress  of  doctrine  in  the  summing  up  and  exposi- 
tion of  the  past. 

II.  It  GIVES  THE  COURSE  OF  EVENTS  through  wliich  the  doctrine  was  matured. 

Outlines  of  the  history  in  this  point  of  view.  The  doctrine  cleared  and 
formed  in  the  course  of  this  history,  chiefly  in  respect  of  two  principles :  a. 
The  Gospel  is  the  substitute  for  the  Law  —  Jewish  theory  of  the  Law  — 
Jndaizing  attempts  negatived  and  superseded;     6.   The  Gospel  is  the  hi  ir 


CONTENTS.  XXI 

of  the  iazo— inheriting  its  ideas  and  its  Scriptures.    St.  Paul's  conflict  for 
these  positions.  Largeness  of  the  results  deduced  from  them  in  the  Epistles. 
Yalue  of  a  divine  summing  up  of  the  meaning  and  eflects  of  the  manifestation 
of  Christ. 

LECTURE    VI. 

THE    EPISTLES. 

{page     151.) 

Rom.     i.     17. 

Marks  of  the  continuity  of  doctrine,  in  passing  from  the  Acts  to  the  Epistles. 
The  point  at  which  the  Book  of  Acts  leaves  us — it  has  presented  the  Gospel  as  a 
system,  but,  1,  in  its  external  aspect  —  all  the  discourses  in  the  Book  are  addressed 
to  those  who  are  not  yet  Christians;  2,  as  a  doctrine  in  outline  — coextensive 
with  the  Apostles'  Creed, 

Need  of  further  divine  teaching.  The  Epistles  are  the  voice  of  the  Spirit  within 
the  Church  to  those  who  are  within  it  —  presenting  the  internal  aspect  of  the 
Gospel,  and  filling  up  its  outlines  by  perfecting  the  christian  faith  and  educating 
the  christian  life. 

The  Epistles  are  fitted  for  this  work  by  their 

I.  Form.     The  Epistolary  form  peculiar  to  the  New  Testament— indicates  fel- 

lowship—  addresses  itself  to  actual  life,  and  various  conditions  of  mind. 

II.  Method.    One  of  reasoning,  interpretation  of  Old  Testament  Scriptures, 

utterance  of  jersonal  feelings  and  convictions  —  is  a  method  of  association 
ratherthanof  authority,  of  education  rather  than  of  information,  yet  per- 
vaded by  authority,  aud  blended  with  direct  revelation, 

III.  Authorship.    Chiefly  that  of  St,  Paul,  who  had  7iot  been  with  Jesus  and 

was  born  out  of  due  time.  Inference,  that  these  writings  form  a  stage  of 
doctrine  in  advance  of  that  in  the  Gospels,  as  showing  the  results  of  the 
manifestation  of  Christ,  The  same  kind  of  teaching  in  the  Catholic  Epistles, 
by  four  other  authors,  chosen  representatives  of  the  Twelve, 

IV.  Relative  characters.    (1)  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  grouped  and  character- 

ized, form  a  body  of  doctrine,    (2)  Need  and  eflect  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,    (3)  The  Catholic  Epistles  confirmatory  and  supplementary. 
The  Epistles  a  provision  for  the  exigencies  of  the  christian  life.    The  exigencies 
must  be  known— the  provision  must  be  used. 


XXll  CONTEXTS. 

LECTURE   VII. 

THE    EPISTLES. 

{page    177.) 

1    Cor.    i.   3  0. 

The  doctrine  in  the  Epistles,  as  a  stage  in  advance  of  the  doctrine  in  the  pre- 
ceding books,  is  distinguished  by 

I.  Its  General  Character  — a  doctrine  of  the  life  in  Christ— shows  the  ful- 

filment, and  gives  the  interpretation,  of  the  promise,  "  At  that  day  ye  shall 
know  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you."  Discrimina- 
tion of  the  points  in  the  promise.  In  the  Epistles  all  things  are  "in  Christ 
Jesus."  Need  of  a  correspondence  with  this  character  in  our  own  habit  of 
mind. 

II.  Particular  doctrines  as  affected  by  teiis  general  character. 

Examples.    (1)  Doctrine  of  salvation — in  the  Gospels  —  in  the  Epistles. 
•        Increased  definiteness,  especially  as  to  the  consciousness  of  atonement  and 

redemption.    {2)  Doctrine  of  adoption — in  the  Gospels  —  in  the  Epistles. 

The  form  of  it  fuller  —  the  ground  of  it  clearer.    A  new  sense  of  it  from  the 

gift  of  the  Spirit.  (3)  Doctrine  ofioorshlp  —  ih  the  Gospels  —  in  the  Epistles. 

Plainer  revelation  of  access  by  sacrifice  —  by  mediation  —  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

(i)  Ethical  doctrine  — in  the  Gospels  — in  the  Epistles.     Advanced  to   a 

higher  point  by  the  knowledge  of  higher  relations,  motives,  and  powers 

found  "  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Retrospect  of  the  course  of  doctrine  — its  unity  and  progress.    Our  personal 
duty  in  regard  to  it. 

LECTURE    VIII. 

THE    APOCALYPSE. 

{page    200.) 

Rev.    X X i.     2. 

The  Apocalypse  fulfils  the  promise,  "  He  shall  show  j-ou  things  to  come"  — and 
completes  the  line  of  history  and  prophecy.  Is  related  to  the  last  discourse  in  St. 
JIatthew,  as  the  Epistles  are  to  that  in  St.  John.  The  Lord  himself  is  still  the 
revealer. 


CONTENTS.  XXm 

Connection  between  the  progress  of  prophecy  and  the  progress  of  doctrine. 
Doctrinal  bearing  of  the  book  in 

I.  The  avaxt  which  it  supposes  — concerned  Avith  the  destinies  of  the  body, 

the  Church.  The  corporate  life  distinguished  from  the  individual  life  in  the 
Epistles.  Contrast  between  the  ideal  character  of  the  Church  and  the  indi- 
cations of  its  actual  history.  In  the  later  epistles  the  tokens  and  revela- 
tions of  the  future  grow  darker.  Thus  a  want  has  been  created  which  de- 
mands a  further  word  of  God.  State  of  mind  to  which  the  Book  is  ad- 
dressed. 

II.  The  satisfaction  which  it  pPvOVIDES  — as  being  a  doctrine  of  consum- 

mation. 

1.  A  doctrine  of  the  Cause  of  the  consummation.     The  personal  salvation 

of  the  individual  and  the  general  salvation  of  the  Church  have  the  same 
ground,  namely,  the  Atoning  Sacrifice,  — implied  by  "  the  Lamb,"  as  the 
Apocalyptic  name  of  Clirist. 

2.  A  doctrine  of  the  History  of  the  consummation  —  showing  the  inner  nature 

of  events — by  connecting  things  seen  with  things  not  seen  —  by  present- 
ing the  eartli  as  the  battle-field  of  spiritual  powers. 

3.  A  doctrine  of  the  Coming  of  the  Lord— the  announcement  of  this  is  the 

keynote  of  the  Book  —  all  else  a  part  of  this.  In  the  Epistles  tlie  coming 
is  connected  chiefly  with  the  personal  life  —  here  with  the  corporate  life  — 
as  the  close  of  the  world's  history. 

4.  A  doctrine  of  Victory  —  completes  the  teaching  of  the  Epistles  on  the  Vic- 

tory of  the  Lord — and  of  his  people. 

5.  A  doctrine  oi  Judgment.    "The  Prince  of  this  world  is  judged.''    Judg- 

ment of  the  usurping  Power  —  of  the  world  —  of  nations  —  of  persons. 

6.  A  doctrine  of  Restoration.    There  is  to  be  a  perfect  humanity.    Humanity 

only  perfect  in  society.    The  city  a  tj-pe  of  society  in  its  maturity.    Fail- 
ure of  earthly  societies  to  realize  the  ideal.    Kealizaticn  promised  in  the 
Bible.    Need  of  the  final  vision  to  complete  the  teaching  of  God.    The 
Bible  an  account  of  the  preparation  of  the  City  of  God  —  by  expectation, 
prophecy,  and  type  —  by  the  reconstitution  of  men's  relations  to  God,  and 
to  each  other  —  both  eflected  by  the  Gospel.  Other  systems  have  despaired 
of  human  society.    Completeness  of  the  Bible  in  providing  for  the  perfec- 
tion of  man,  in  a  corporate  as  well  as  a  personal  life. 
Final  survey  of  the  progressive  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  in  its  several 
stages,  represented  by  the  —  Gospels  —  Acts  —  Epistles  —  Apocalypse.    Fitness  of 
this  survey  to  increase  the  sense  that  the  doctrine  is  not  of  the  world — and  the 
confidence  that  it  is  of  God. 


THE  "  "^ 

PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE 

IN    THE 

NEW   TESTAMENT. 


LECTUEE  I. 

THE  NEW  TESTAIMENT. 

I  HAVE    GIVEN    UNTO    THEM    THE   WORDS  WHICH   THOU  GAVEST  ME.— 

St.  John  xvii.  8. 

On  the  truth  of  this  sa3dng  stands  the  whole  fabric  of 
creeds  and  doctrines.  It  is  the  ground  of  authority  to  the 
preacher,  of  assurance  to  the  believer,  of  existence  to  the 
Church.  It  is  the  source  from  which  the  perpetual  stream 
of  Christian  teaching  flows.  All  our  testimonies,  instruc- 
tions, exhortations,  derive  their  first  origin  and  continuous 
power  from  the  fact  that  the  Father  has  given  to  the  Son, 
the  Son  has  given  to  his  servants,  the  words  of  truth  and 
life. 

I  am  now  called,  not  so  much  to  preach  the  words  thus 
given  to  us,  as  to  inquire  concerning  them.  It  is  a  sec- 
ondaiy  and  subsidiary  ministry. 

Our  first  charge  is,  "  Go  stand  and  speak  in  the  temple 
to  the  people  all  the  words  of  this  life."  We  go  ;  and  our 
words  not  only  meet  the  wants  of  conscience,  but  stir  the 
activities  of  thought ;  and  a  cloud  of  questions  rises  round 
us,  which  must  be  dissipated  while  it  is  gathering,  but 
which  will  still  gather  while  it  is  being  dissipated.  Thus 
the  preaching  of  the  words  of  life  to  the  people  is  evermore 

3  25 


26  THE   PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

attended  by  an  incidental  necessity  for  extensive  and  va- 
rious discussion. 

Tlie  institution  of  these  lectures  is  a  testimony  to  that 
necessity,  and  a  testimony  also  to  the  relation  which  such 
discussion  bears  to  the  main  object  for  which  the  Word 
was  given.  For  if  this  pulpit  is  devoted  on  these  occasions 
to  the  deliberate  treatment  of  some  particular  question, 
that  is  only  on  account  of  the  bearing  which  such  questions 
may  have  on  the  work  which  the  Church  fulfils  in  testifying 
the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  More  especially  is  it 
fitting  that  one,  who  is  habitually  engaged  in  the  work  of 
preaching  and  teaching,  should  keep  as  near  as  he  can  to 
this  ultimate  practical  aim.  Therefore,  invoking  the  guid- 
ance of  God,  I  shall  submit  to  j'ou  some  considerations  on 
the  progress  of  doctrine  in  the  New  Testament,  a  subject 
which  on  the  one  side  touches  the  living  ministry  of  the 
Church  at  its  very  heart,  and  on  the  other  is  specially 
affected  by  the  present  tendencies  of  sacred  criticism. 

Into  all  our  parishes  and  all  our  missions  the  thousands 
of  evangelists,  pastors,  and  teachers  are  sent  forth  with  the 
Bible  placed  in  their  hands,  and  with  solemn  charges  to 
draw  from  its  pages  the  Gospel  which  they  preach.  But 
when  those  pages  are  opened,  they  present,  not  the  exposi- 
tion of  a  revelation  completed,  but  the  records  of  a  revela- 
tion in  progress.  Its  parts  and  features  are  seen,  not  as 
arranged  after  their  development,  but  as  arranging  them- 
selves in  the  course  of  their  development,  and  growing, 
through  stages  which  can  be  marked,  and  by  accessions 
which  can  be  measured,  into  the  perfect  form  which  they 
attain  at  last.  Thus  the  Bible  includes  within  itself  a 
world  of  anticipation  and  retrospection,  of  preparation  and 
completion,  whereby  various  and  vital  relations  are  consti- 


LecT.  I.  THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.  27 

tuted  between  its  several  parts.  These  relations  enter  as 
really  into  the  scheme  of  Scripture  as  do  the  several  parts 
themselves ;  and  must  be  rightly  understood  and  duly  ap- 
preciated, if  the  doctrine,  which  the  Book  jields  upon  the 
w^hole,  is  to  be  firmly  grasped  by  the  student  or  fairl}^  pre- 
sented by  the  preacher. 

In  this  way  the  subject  of  progressive  teaching  in  Scrip- 
ture is  implicated  with  the  living  ministrj^  of  the  Church. 
How  it  is  affected  by  the  present  tendencies  of  sacred  criti- 
cism there  is  no  need  to  explain,  for  it  is  known  to  all  that 
the  studies  of  our  day  are  directed  to  a  minute  and  la- 
borious examination  of  the  internal  characteristics  of  the 
books  of  Scripture,  and  more  particularly  of  their  mutual 
relations,  and  of  the  differences  of  doctrine  both  in  amount 
and  form  which  they  exhibit  on  comparison  with  each 
other.  Notwithstanding  all  reasons  for  anxiety,  sometimes 
even  for  grief  and  indignation,  which  we  may  find  in  the 
actual  handling  of  the  subject,  we  have  cause  to  be  thank- 
ful that  the  progressive  character  of  revelation  is  thus 
coming  more  distinctly  before  the  mind  of  the  Church.  In 
regard  to  any  subje'ct  the  observation  of  successive  stages 
of  design  must  be  expected  ultimately  to  conduce  to  a  more 
thorough  comprehension  of  the  thing  designed,  and  will 
also  naturally  tend  to  place  the  observer  in  closer  contact 
with  the  mind  of  the  designer.  So  will  it  be  with  the  writ- 
ten word. 

Only  a  part  of  the  general  subject  is  before  us  now.  We 
shall  be  occupied  with  the  last  stage  through  which  the 
revelation  of  God  was  perfected,  as  exhibited  in  the  canoni- 
cal books  of  the  New  Testament.  But  though  only  a  part 
of  a  larger  subject,  this  is  itself  one  of  great  extent  and 
various   aspect,    and    on   this   account    some    preliminary 


28  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.   I. 

words  are  necessaiy,  in  order  to  fix  the  point  of  view  from 
which  it  will  be  regarded.  I  shall  therefore  devote  the 
chief  part  of  this  introductory  lecture  to  secure  for  myself 
the  following  positions. 

1.  That  by  doctrine  shall  be  here  meant  divine  teaching, 
or  truth  as  communicated  by  God. 

2.  That  the  course  of  divine  teaching  under  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation  shall  be  considered  to  coincide  in  extent 
with  the  New  Testament  Scriptures. 

3.  That  the  relative  character  and  actual  order  of  the 
parts  of  the  New  Testament  shall  be  taken,  as  adequately 
representing  the  progressive  plan  on  which  this  course  of 
divine  teaching  was  perfected. 

When  I  have  strengthened  these  positions  by  such  ex- 
planations as  time  will  allow,  I  will  close  this  introduction 
of  the  subject,  by  pointing  out  that  the  progressive  system 
of  teaching  in  the  New  Testament  is  an  obvious  fact^  that 
it  is  marked  by  distinct  stages^  and  that  it  is  determined  by 
natural  principles, 

I.  1.  First,  then,  I  assume  that  the  doctrine  here  spoken 
of  is  divine  teaching,  and  that  by  its  progress  is  meant  a 
systematic  advance  in  its  communication  from  God. 

That  some  doctrine  contained  in  the  New  Testament  must 
be  thus  characterized,  we  are  assured  by  the  assertion  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  text :  "  I  have  given  unto  them  the 
words  which  thou  gavest  me."  Words  then  have  been  given 
to  men,  which,  not  only  in  their  original  source,  but  in  their 
intermediate  channel,  are  absolutely  and  incontestably  di- 
vine. Over  and  above  these  discoveries  of  the  mind  of  God 
which  are  contained  in  the  natural  order  of  things,  and 
which  we  raa}^  discern  by  an  intuitive  faculty  or  infer  by  a 
reasoning  process,  we  have  that,  which,  in  the  clearest, 


LeCT.  I.  THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.  29 

fullest,  strongest  sense,  must  be  called  the  "  word  of  God." 
Na}^,  he  has  not  only  given  us  a  word;  he  has  done  more, 
he  has  given  us  words, ^  separate,  articulate,  definite  com- 
munications, each  as  truly  divine  as  is  the  whole  word 
which  they  compose.  Such  words  of  God  were  spoken  of 
in  old  time  as  "coming  to"  particular  persons,  who  were 
to  be  the  messengers  of  those  words  to  others.  The  Proph- 
ets testified,  when  the}^  spoke,  that  "  the  word  of  the  Lord 
came  to  them  ; "  and  the  testimony  was  authenticated  of 
God  and  accepted  of  men.  But  the  communications  made 
through  them  were  only  introductory.  "  In  sundr}'  parts 
and  in  divers  ways  God  having  spoken  of  old  to  the  Fathers 
in  the  Prophets,  at  the  end  of  these  days  spake  to  us  in  his 
Son."  Those  to  whom  the  word  of  God  came  were  suc- 
ceeded by  him  who  is  himself  the  "  Word  of  God."  He 
became  man,  and  stood  forth  as  the  one  real  and  eternal 
Prophet,  the  medium  of  communication  between  the  mind 
of  God  and  the  mind  of  man.  Then  he  was  in  the  world, 
but  he  "was  in  heaven,"  in  the  concourse  of  men  but  "in 
the  bosom  of  his  Father."  His  flesh  was  as  a  veil  between 
the  two  worlds,  and  he  who  dwelt  in  it  read  on  the  one  side 
the  secrets  of  the  Most  Holy,  and  on  the  other  presented 
them  to  the  apprehensions  of  mankind.  On  the  one  side  he 
received,  on  the  other  he  gave.  He  showed  to  the  world  the 
works  which  he  had  seen  with  his  Father ;  he  spoke  to  the 
world  the  words  which  he  had  heard  with  his  Father ;  and 
in  closing  his  personal  teaching  in  the  flesh,  he  lifted  up  his 
eyes  to  heaven  and  said,  "I  have  given  unto  them  the 
words  which  thou  gavest  me."  Imagination  itself  can  go 
no  farther.     If  we  asked  for  assurance  that  men  had  really 

1  prJuaTa, 


30  THE   PEOGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

received  the  words  of  God,  it  Avoiild  be  impossible  to  con- 
ceive a  higher  authority,  a  more  plain  assertion,  or  a  more 
unqualified  statement.  On  this  point  I  need  say  no  more. 
My  only  purpose  in  touching  it  has  been  to  refresh  in  j^our 
minds  the  remembrance,  that  the  doctrine  about  which  we 
inquire  is,  in  some  part  of  it  at  least,  truly  and  incontesta- 
bly  divine. 

2.  More  perhaps  needs  to  be  said  in  order  to  justify  the 
next  step  which  I  would  take,  in  the  assumption  that  the 
course  of  divine  teaching  coincides  in  extent  Avith  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  New  Testament.  Have  I  the  right  to  extend 
the  course  of  divine  teaching  so  far  ?  If  so,  have  I  the  right 
to  refuse  to  extend  it  farther  ?  At  first  sight  the  text  might 
suggest  that  the  character  of  doctrine,  which  has  been  just 
asserted,  should  be  limited  to  the  words  spoken  by  the  lips  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  when  on  earth.  If  we  pass  beyond  this,  and 
include  words  spoken  by  the  lips  of  men,  we  may  seem  com- 
pelled to  extend  our  thoughts  to  a  progress  of  doctrine  car- 
ried on  to  the  end  of  time.  In  neither  of  these  cases  will 
the  course  of  the  divine  communication  of  Christian  truth 
coincide  Avith  the  extent  of  the  New  Testament.  In  the 
one  case  it  will  be  comprised  in  the  Gospels  alone,  which 
leave  us  some  of  their  most  peculiar  doctrines  only  in  short 
summaries  or  pregnant  germs  ;  in  the  other  case  it  may  be 
prolonged  through  an  indefinite  series  of  accessions,  which 
will  always  leave  the  Church  in  doubt,  as  to  what  the  faith 
delivered  to  it  is,  and  still  more  in  doubt  as  to  what  it  may 
hereafter  turn  out  to  be. 

What  then  are  the  words  to  which  the  description  in  the 
text  applies  ?  or  rather,  within  what  limits  shall  we  seek 
them? 

Undoubtedly  the  Lord  speaks  of  all  the  words  which  he 


LeCT.  I.  THE   NEW   TESTAIVIENT.  31 

had  already  uttered  to  those  disciples  as  their  teacher  in 
the  days  of  his  flesh.  But  is  the  saying  true  only  of  those 
words?  Is  it  to  be  restricted  to  that  stage  of  teaching 
which  had  then  reached  its  conclusion,  and  of  which  at  the 
time  the  assertion  might  seem  to  be  made?  Or  is  it  also 
true  of  other  words  ?  words  for  instance  which  he  gave  after 
he  was  risen?  or,  again,  words  which  he  gave  after  he  was 
glorified  ? 

To  those  who  would  study  the  evolution  of  doctrine  in 
the  New  Testament  this  question  is  of  vital  importance,  for 
if,  after  we  have  passed  the  first  stage  of  teaching,  the  au- 
thority which  we  recognized  there  is  withdrawn,  our  treat- 
ment of  the  subsequent  teaching  must  be  conducted  in  an 
altered  spirit  and  on  other  principles.  Having  bowed  in 
silence  before  the  Divine  Teacher,  we  shall  recover  our  free- 
dom of  opinion  when  we  are  left  with  his  followers.  Only 
at  first  shall  we  tread  securelj^  on  the  rock  :  we  must  then 
look  well  to  our  steps,  and  be  free  to  choose  our  path  among 
the  irregularities  and  uncertainties  of  a  more  shifting  soil ; 
for  we  shall  pass  from  words  which  the  Son  of  God  gave  to 
men,  to  the  expansions  of  those  words  and  the  deductions 
from  them  which  the  men  who  first  received  them  have 
given  to  us.  Our  study  of  the  progress  of  doctrine  within 
the  limits  of  the  New  Testament  would  thus  be  entirely 
changed  in  its  character,  as  we  passed  from  the  Gospels  to 
the  subsequent  books.  Only  in  the  first  stage  would  the 
progress  of  doctrine  bear  the  meaning  of  the  progress  of  its 
communication  by  God.  In  the  second  stage  it  could  but 
signify  the  progress  of  its  apprehension  by  men.  The  Acts 
and  Epistles  would  thus  form  only  the  first  chapter  of  the 
history  of  the  Church,  separated  from  its  subsequent  chap- 
ters by  a  much  narrower  interval  than  that  which  marks 


32  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

them  off  from  the  Gospels  which  precede  them.  They  would 
in  fact  be  simply  specimens  of  human  apprehensions  of 
divine  truth ;  specimens  of  singular  value,  because  produced 
under  peculiar  advantages,  but  yet,  like  any  other  indi- 
vidual apprehensions,  modified  by  the  personal  character 
and  historical  position  of  those  who  formed  them.  They 
would  therefore  be  liable  to  such  deductions  on  these  ac- 
counts as  historical  criticism  might  suggest,  and  would  re- 
main rather  as  warrants  for  various  explications  by  other 
minds  and  in  other  ages,  than  as  fixed  canons  of  the  truth 
forever. 

I  ask,  then,  whether  the  giving  of  the  words  of  God  was 
completed  when  the  text  was  uttered,  or  whether  there  was 
a  distinct  part  of  the  process  yet  to  come? 

The  discourse  in  which  the  saying  occurs  has  supplied  the 
answer.  Its  distinctive  character  is  that  of  transition, 
closing  the  past  but  opening  the  future,  representing  a  later 
stage  of  teaching  as  the  predestined  completion  of  the 
earlier,  and  cementing  both  into  one,  by  asserting  for  both 
the  same  source,  and  diffusing  over  both  the  same  authority. 
This  function  in  the  progress  of  divine  teaching,  which  be- 
longs to  the  discourse  in  the  14th,  15th,  and  16th  chapters 
of  St.  John,  must  come  more  distinctly  into  view  at  a  later 
stage  of  our  inquiry.  It  is  now  sufficient  to  refer  to  it  in 
passing,  as  an  evidence  that  the  very  words,  of  which  the 
text  specifically  and  indubitably  speaks,  include  the  asser- 
tion of  the  same  divine  gift  and  authority  for  other  teach- 
ing which  was  yet  to  come. 

Thus  we  stand  on  the  declaration  of  the  giver  of  the  word 
himself,  when  we  consider  the  progress  of  Christian  doc- 
trine in  its  communication  from  God  as  extending,  not  only 
over  one  stage  in  which  it  was  delivered  by  the  Lord  in  the 


Lect.  T.  the  new  testament.  33 

flesh,  but  through  a  second  stage  in  which  it  was  delivered 
by  the  same  Lord  through  the  Spirit.  It  might  indeed  have 
seemed  natural,  at  the  point  where  the  voice  of  Jesus 
ceases  to  draw  the  line  which  should  terminate  the  words 
which  were  given  by  the  Father  to  the  Son,  and  by  the  Son 
were  given  to  men,  a  line  of  broad  demarcation,  separating 
those  words  from  all  others  whatever.  But  that  very  voice 
forbade  the  act,  and  admonished  us  that,  when  it  should 
seem  to  have  ceased,  it  must  yet  be  recognized  as  carrying 
on  the  course  of  communications  which  were  not  then  com- 
plete. I  now  say  no  more  on  this  important  point,  because 
a  clear  understanding  upon  it  ought  to  be  one  of  the  chief 
results  of  the  inquiry  which  lies  before  me. 

But  a  second  question  is  waiting  for  me  now.  If  I  see 
that  the  proposal  to  restrict  the  divine  authority  to  the  com- 
munications of  the  Lord's  own  lips  has  been  negatived  by 
himself,  I  am  left  to  extend  that  authority  to  communica- 
tions from  the  lips  of  men.  Then  where  am  I  to  stop  ?  Am 
I  any  longer  within  the  limits  of  the  New  Testament?  I 
have  looked  forth  on  the  ocean.  Am  I,  or  am  I  not,  actu- 
ally launched  upon  it?  I  am  compelled  to  turn  towards  the 
vast  and  confusing  prospect,  in  order  to  mark  the  limits 
within  which  I  claim  the  right  to  remain. 

Now  if  the  second  part  of  the  New  Testament  simply  re- 
hearsed to  us  certain  definite  revelations,  which  the  writers 
alleged  that  they  had  received,  no  difficulty  would  exist. 
Their  testimony  to  these  would  be  on  the  same  footing  (or 
nearly  so)  with  the  testimony  of  the  Evangelists  as  to  the 
discourses  of  our  Lord.  But  this  is  not  their  method.  We 
have  the  revealed  truth  presented  to  us  in  the  Epistles,  not 
only  as  a  communication  from  God,  but  also  as  an  appre- 
hension by  man.     The  great  transition  from  the  one  stage 


34  THE   PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

to  the  other  is  exhibited  before  our  e^^es  as  alread}'  effected. 
We  have  the  gospel  as  it  existed  in  the  mind  of  Peter  and 
of  Paul,  of  James  and  of  John.  It  is  thus  presented  to  us 
in  combination  with  the  processes  of  human  thought  and 
the  variations  of  human  feelings,  in  association  with  pecu- 
liarities of  individual  character,  and  in  the  course  of  its 
more  perfect  elaboration  through  the  exigencies  of  events 
and  controversies. 

But  is  not  this  account  of  the  second  part  of  the  New 
Testament  also  the  account  of  the  whole  subsequent  history 
of  doctrine  in  the  world,  that  is,  of  Church  histor}^,  in  its 
essential  and  inward  character?  Certainly  it  is  so;  and 
therefore  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles  stand  to  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal historian  as  the  first  chapters  of  his  work,  for  there  he 
alread3^  finds  the  aspects  which  the  revealed  truth  bears  to 
human  minds  and  assumes  in  human  hands,  and  the  manner 
in  which  its  parts  and  proportions  come  to  be  distinctly  ex- 
hibited through  the  agency  of  men  and  the  instrumentality 
of  facts.  And  this  is  a  process  which  goes  on  through  de- 
scending ages,  and  in  which  every  generation  bears  its  part. 
It  has  gained  accessions  from  all  those  varieties  of  the  hu- 
man mind  which  have  been  placed  in  contact  with  revealed 
truth,  from  the  idiosyncracies  of  persons,  of  nations,  of 
ages,  from  Fathers  and  Councils,  from  controversies  and 
heresies,  from  Hellenist,  Alexandrian,  and  Roman  forms  of 
thought,  from  the  mind  of  the  East  and  the  mind  of  the 
West,  from  corruptions  and  reformations  of  religion,  from 
Italy  and  England,  from  Germany  and  Geneva,  from  au- 
thority and  inquir}^,  from  Church  and  Dissent.  These  words 
and  others  like  them  represent  the  varying  measures  of  ap- 
prehension, and  the  varjdng  kinds  of  expression,  which  the 
Gospel  revelation  has  found  among  men.     The  "  Develop- 


LeCT.  I.  THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  35 

ments  of  doctrine  "  (to  use  a  word  which  some  time  since 
was  very  familiar  to  many  of  us)  —  the  developments  of 
doctrine  thus  originated  were  the  joint  product  of  the  re- 
Tealed  truth  and  the  condition  of  the  .mind  which  received 
it.  The  revealed  truth  was  one,  but  the  conditions  of  the 
human  mind  are  infinitely  various,  and  hence  an  endless 
variety  in  the  developments  themselves.  —  a  variety  which 
sometimes  melts  into  a  higher  harmonj^,  but  more  often  jars 
on  our  ears  in  irreconcilable  discord. 

I  am  not  here  concerned  with  the  degrees  in  which  differ- 
ent developments  have  represented  or  perverted  truth,  and 
in  which  thej''  have  more  conspicuously  exhibited  the  ele- 
ment of  the  divine  truth  or  that  of  the  human  infirrait3^  I 
would  only  obsei^e  that  through  all  this  confusion  there  is 
in  some  sense  a  progress  of  doctrine.  Even  by  misappre- 
hensions and  perversions  the  relations  of  the  "Word  to  the 
human  mind  are  more  perfect^  disclosed.  In  partial  S3^s- 
tems  of  religion  those  parts  of  the  entire  scheme  which  they 
have  more  particularly  adopted  often  come  to  be  seen  under  '4 
a  stronger  light.  But  especially  it  is  evident  that  certain 
great  features  of  truth  emerge  from  periods  of  conflict  and 
the  driving  mists  of  controvers}^,  and  swell  upon  the  sight 
with  outlines  more  defined  and  a  power  more  recognized 
than  had  seemed  to  belong  to  them  before.  The  names  of 
Athanasius,  Augustine,  and  Luther,  recall  in  a  moment  ^ 
some  of  the  most  obvious  examples  of  this  fact,  in  regard  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  Nature  of  Christ,  of  Original  Sin,  and 
of  Justification  by  Faith. 

There  were  periods  then  at  which  these  doctrines  stood 
forth  with  a  vividness,  precision,  and  force,  which  gave 
them  as  it  were  a  new  place  in  the  apprehensions  of  men, 
affecting  of  course  by  their  increased  definiteness  and  ex- 


36  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  I. 

pansion  the  proportions  of  the  whole  body  of  truth.  These 
however  are  only  prominent  instances  of  a  general  and 
continuous  fact.  Every  age,  every  Church,  every  sect, 
every  controversy,  in  some  way  or  other  contributes  some- 
thing to  the  working  out,  the  testing,  or  the  illustrating  of 
some  part  of  the  revelation  of  God.  Our  English  mind  has 
borne  its  part,  and  the  religious  movements  of  our  own  day 
will  deposit  some  residuum  of  materials  for  future  thought 
and  knowledge.  Our  missionary  efforts  will,  in  this  respect 
also,  have  results  of  their  own,  and  Christianity  in  India 
or  in  China,  when  it  has  in  some  degree  lost  its  English 
type,  and  entered  into  full  relations  with  the  peculiar  minds 
of  those  peculiar  races,  will  perhaps  make  as  distinct  addi- 
tions to  the  history  of  doctrine,  as  we  recognize  in  passing 
from  the  theology  of  the  Eastern  to  that  of  the  Western 
Church.  The  history  upon  the  whole  both  has  been  and 
will  be  a  long  disclosure  of  the  perverse  tendencies  and  in- 
firm capacities  of  man.  Yet  a  special  providence  over  the 
Church  and  the  Living  Spirit  in  it  has  been  proved  as  well 
as  promised :  and  he  who  looks  back  upon  the  tortuous 
and  agitated  course  of  thought,  perceives  that  the  truth  is 
not  only  preserved,  but  in  some  sense  advanced,  the  defini- 
tions of  it  becoming  more  exact,  the  construction  of  it  more 
systematic,  and  the  deductions  from  it  more  numerous. 

Thus  the  history  of  the  apprehension  of  Christian  truth 
by  man,  which  commences  within  the  New  Testament,  is 
continued  in  the  history  of  the  Church  to  the  end  of  time  ; 
and  still,  while  it  is  continued,  it  is  in  some  sort  a  history 
of  progress,  and  one  in  which  the  Spirit  of  God  mingles, 
and  which  the  providence  of  God  moulds. 

What  then  is  it  which  draws  the  line  of  separation 
between  the  apostolic  period  and  all  the  subsequent  periods 


LeCT.   I.  THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  37 

of  this  history?  It  is  this  —  That  the  apostolic  period  is 
not  only  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  apprehension  of  truth  by 
man :  it  is  also  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  communication 
of  truth  by  God.  It  is  the  first  stage  of  the  one,  and  the 
last  stage  of  the  other.  The  aspect  which  the  Gospel  bears 
in  the  writings  of  the  Apostles  is  a  communication  from 
God  of  what  it  reall}^  is,  a  revelation  of  what  he  intended 
that  it  should  be  in  the  minds  of  men  forever.  Tliis  char- 
acter of  the  apostolic  writings  has,  without  variation  of 
testimony,  been  acknowledged  by  the  Church  from  the 
beginning ;  but  this  acknowledgment  has  been  confined  to 
these  writings,  and  has  never  been  extended  to  subsequent 
expositions  or  decrees.  Councils  and  doctors  have  claimed 
a  right  to  be  heard,  only  as  asserters  and  witnesses  of  apos- 
tolic teaching.  No  later  communications  from  heaven  are 
supposed  or  alleged.  What  has  been  handed  down, — 
what  is  collected  out  of  the  writings  of  the  Apostles  —  is 
the  professed  authority  for  all  definitions  and  decrees  ;  and 
all  reference  to  (what  ma}^  appear  to  be)  other  authority  is 
based  upon  the  fact,  asserted  or  implied,  that  in  the  quar- 
ters appealed  to  there  was  reason  to  recognize  some  special 
connection  with  the  apostolic  teaching.  This  fact,  more- 
over, comes  out  most  clearl}^  at  those  moments  in  which 
(what  might  be  called)  an  adyance  of  doctrine  is  seen  most 
evidently  to  take  place.  If  the  doctrine  of  the  Nature  of 
Christ  shows  a  new  distinctness  and  firmness  of  outline 
after  Nice  and  Constantinople,  yet  that  form  of  the  doc- 
trine professes  to  be,  and  when  examined  proves  to  be, 
only  a  formal  definition  of  the  original  truth.  Nothing 
new  has  been  imported  into  it ;  only  fresh  verbal  barriers 
have  excluded  importations  which  were  really  new.  If  the 
doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith  seems,  at  the  era  of  the 


38  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

Reformation,  like  a  new  apparition  on  the  scene,  yet  it  is 
advanced,  and  is  received,  only  as  the  old  Pauline  doctrine 
reasserting  its  forgotten  claims. 

Even  palpable  innovations  have  supported  their  preten- 
sions by  the  plea  of  an  imaginary  tradition,  descending 
from  the  daj^s  when  it  was  confessed  that  the  communica- 
tions of  God  had  been  completed.  Our  own  days  have 
seen  fresh  evidence  of  the  tenacity  with  which  the  Romish 
Church  holds  to  this  theory,  while  making  that  last  addition 
to  the  articles  of  the  faith  which  seemed  to  imply  that  it 
was  abandoned.  Then,  when  the  pretence  of  a  tradition 
appeared  to  have  finally  given  way  under  the  ever  accumu- 
lating mass  of  novelties,  minds  accustomed  to  the  logic  of 
facts  began  to  cast  about  for  some  other  theory,  which 
should  admit  of  being  reconciled  with  them.  The  exposi- 
tion of  such  a  theory  began  in  this  pulpit,  and  was  com- 
pleted in  the  communion  into  which  its  author  speedily 
passed.  It  was  a  theory  which  virtually  claimed  for  the 
Church  the  power  to  create  new  doctrine,  instead  of  a  mere 
authority  to  determine  what  was  old.  But  the  claim  could 
not  secure  adoption,  though  it  had  been  boldly  acted  upon, 
and  seemed  necessary  to  the  controversial  position  of 
Rome.  The  settled  sense  of  Christendom  as  to  the  revela- 
tion of  the  truth  was  not  to  be  violated.  Newly-"  defined  " 
doctrines  were  still  to  be  pronounced  true  and  necessary 
on  the  ground  that  they  had  been  held  by  the  Apostles, 
though  no  evidence  of  that  fact  survived,  and  that  they  had 
been  handed  down  by  tradition,  though  no  trace  of  the  tradi- 
tion could  be  found.  The  gift  thus  ascribed  to  the  "  Infallible 
Authority  "  was  not  an  inspiration  to  know  the  truth  of  new 
doctrines,  but  a  revelation  of  the  fact  that  they  were  old. 
The  new  position  has  been  in  fact  abandoned  by  those  who 


LeCT.  I.  THE   NEW   TESTAJVIENT.  39 

offered,  hut  have  not  been  suffered  to  hold  it  ^^^ ;  and  we 
are  still  able  to  say,  that  only  in  transient  moments  of  en- 
thusiasm, and  by  some  insignificant  and  eccentric  sects, 
has  there  been  any  definite  allegation,  that  doctrinal  com- 
munications from  God  have  been  received  since  the  last 
Apostle  died. 

The  sum  of  what  has  been  said  is  this.  (First),  There 
are  words  (definite  doctrinal  communications)  of  which  it 
is  said  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  "  The  words  which  thou  gavest 
me  I  have  given  them."  (Secondly) ,  These  words  are  not 
only  those  which  he  spake  with  his  lips  in  the  da}- s  of  his 
flesh ;  they  include  other  words,  afterwards  given  through 
men  in  the  Spirit,  during  a  period  of  time  which  is  repre- 
sented to  us  by  the  books  of  the  New  Testament.  (Thirdly) , 
Those  words  were  finished  in  that  period,  and  have  received 
no  subsequent  additions.  The  description  in  the  text  not 
onl}'-  cannot  be  shown  to  belong,  but  has  never  been  sup- 
posed to  belong,  to  any  words  which  have  been  spoken 
since. 

On  these  three  points  the  judgment  of  the  Church  has 
been  all  but  universal  and  unchanging.  In  speaking  there- 
fore of  progress  of  doctrine  in  the  New  Testament,  I  speak 
of  a  course  of  communication  from  God  which  reaches  its 
completion  within  those  limits,  constituting  a  perfected 
scheme  of  divine  teaching,  open  to  new  elucidations  and 
deductions,  but  not  to  the  addition  of  new  materials. 

3.  The  books  of  the  New  Testament  are  the  form  into 
which  this  divine  teaching  has  been  thrown  for  permanent 
and  universal  purposes,  and  by  the  will  of  God  they  con- 
stitute the  only  representation  of  it  for  all  men  and  for- 
ever.    I  have  now  to  add  that  they  give  the  representation, 


40  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

not  only  of  its  substance,  but  also  of  the  p?an  on  which  it 
was  progressively  matured. 

It  must  here  be  remarked  that  there  are  two  ways  in  which 
we  may  exhibit  the  progressive  development  of  any  sj'stem 
of  things,  whether  it  be  a  scheme  of  religious  doctrine,  a 
science,  a  political  constitution,  or  anything  else  which  has 
completed  itself  by  degrees  —  one  of  which  may  be  charac- 
terized as  the  historical^  the  other  as  the  constructive  method. 
In  the  one  case  we  inquire  after  the  exact  succession  of 
events  through  which  the  result  was  reached  ;  in  the  other 
we  discriminate  the  stages  of  advance  in  the  result  itself. 
The  representation  of  progress  made  in  the  one  case  would 
be  regulated  simply  by  the  order  of  fact,  while  that  which 
would  be  produced  in  the  other  would  be  rather  governed 
by  the  order  of  thought.  Xow  if  we  consider  the  New  Tes- 
tament as  representing  a  progressive  development  of  doc- 
trine, it  is  so  in  the  latter  sense  more  than  in  the  former. 
It  is  rather  a  constructive  than  a  simpU^  historical  represen- 
tation. For  instance,  in  the  development  of  the  manifesta- 
tation  of  Christ  in  the  flesh,  the  words  and  deeds  recorded 
by  St.  John  must  be  restored,  on  the  historic  principle,  to 
their  proper  places  in  the  actual  order  of  events ;  on  the 
constructive  principle,  they  properl}^  coalesce  into  a  sepa- 
rate whole,  as  bringing  out  a  view  of  that  manifestation, 
which  is  an  advance  in  the  order  of  thought  upon  the  view 
which  the  sjmoptic  Gospels  present.  So  in  a  historic  rep- 
resentation of  the  formation  of  apostolical  doctrine  we 
should  have  to  trace  the  successive  stejos  and  occasions  of 
its  advance,  to  secure  the  exact  chronological  arrangement 
of  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  and  to  insert  them  in  their  several 
places  in  the  narrative  of  his  labors.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  purposes  of  a  constructive  representation  may  be  better 


LeCT.  I.  THE    NEW   TESTAMENT.  41 

served  by  keeping  the  records  of  the  external  activity  of  the 
Church  separate  from  its  directly  doctrinal  writings,  or  by 
placing  those  doctrinal  writings  in  a  different  order  from 
that  of  their  chronological  production.  Thus  the  New  Tes- 
tament, as  a  whole,  presents  to  us  a  course  of  teaching  on 
the  constructive  rather  than  on  the  historic  principle  ;  and 
it  is  in  this  sense  that  I  propose  to  take  the  book  as  an  ade- 
quate representation,  not  only  of  the  substance  of  the  divine 
teaching,  but  of  the  plan  and  order  of  its  progress. 

It  may  be  said,  that  there  is  a  difference  between  the  prog- 
ress of  doctrine  as  it  actually  was  during  the  time  which 
the  New  Testament  covers,  and  the  representation  of  it 
which  we  have  in  those  particular  writings.  Yes !  and 
there  would  be  a  difference  between  the  actual  course  of 
some  important  enterprise,  —  say  of  a  military  campaign 
for  instance,  —  and  the  abbreviated  narrative,  the  selected 
documents,  and  the  well-considered  arrangement,  by  which 
its  conductor  might  make  the  plan  and  execution  of  it  clear 
to  others.  In  such  a  case  the  man  who  read  would  have  a 
more  perfect  understanding  of  the  mind  of  the  actor  and  the 
author  than  the  man  who  saw ;  he  would  have  the  whole 
course  of  things  mapped  out  for  him  on  the  true  principles 
of  order.  Such  is  the  position  of  every  reader  of  the  New 
Testament,  who  accounts  that  the  Lord,  by  whom  the  his- 
torical development  of  truth  was  guided,  is  also  the  virtual 
author  of  that  representation  of  it  which  lies  before  him. 

We  have  not,  then,  to  make  out  a  chart  from  materials 
given  to  us,  but  to  study  one  which  is  already  made.  Trac- 
ing the  course  of  doctrine  as  it  is  seen  to  advance  through 
those  pages,  we  shall  have  no  need  to  reconstruct  for  our- 
selves the  actual  order  in  which  the  truth  was  historically 
developed.     "Whatever  were  the  measures  and  gradations 

4* 


42  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

by  which  it  was  opened  out  to  the  Church  at  first,  here  are 
the  measures  and  gradations  by  which  it  is  opened  out  to 
the  Church  forever.  Indeed,  the  plan  on  which  the  Lord 
perfected  his  promised  teaching  was  one  which  could  only 
be  seen  in  retrospect.  Conducted  through  the  medium  of 
persons  and  events,  and  by  the  use  of  local  occasions,  the 
method  of  procedure  must  at  the  time  have  very  imperfectly 
disclosed  its  real  system  and  coherence.  Parts  of  the 
truth,  for  instance,  were  being  cleared  and  settled  in  some 
Churches,  which  perhaps  were  scarcely  inquired  for  in  oth- 
ers, 3"et  the  decision  was  of  the  Lord,  and  destined  for  the 
whole  bod}^  A  transient  occasion  demanded  the  interfer- 
ence of  a  particular  Apostle,  and  through  his  sentence  was 
given  some  fundamental  and  eternal  principle.  Among  all 
that  was  done  and  written  and  said,  in  that  scene  of  in- 
tense activity  and  incessant  movement  which  the  apostolic 
writings  open  to  us,  it  would  have  been  hard  indeed  at  the 
time  to  follow  with  steady  eye  the  great  lines  of  advancing 
doctrine,  and  to  single  out  the  acts  and  documents  which 
would  adequately  represent  the  results  secured.  Only 
when  these  results  had  been  firmly  deposited  in  the  Church, 
could  the  successive  contributions  of  the  divine  teaching  be 
recognized,  and  their  relative  order  discerned.  To  exhibit 
this  plan  of  things  there  was  need,  not  of  a  mass  of  acci- 
dental records,  but  of  a  body  of  records  selected  and  ar- 
ranged. It  might  seem  that  we  had  no  right  to  attribute 
such  a  character  as  this  to  a  collection  of  writings  which 
are  upon  the  face  of  them  independent  and  occasional. 
Yet  it  is  certain  that,  when  taken  as  a  whole,  this  is  its 
effect^  and  that  it  makes  upon  the  mind  the  impression  of 
unity  and  design.  He  who  reads  through  the  Koran 
(albeit  the  work  of  a  single  author)  finds  himself  oppressed, 


LeCT.  I.  THE   NEW   TESTA^IEXT.  43 

as  by  a  shapeless  mass  of  accidental  accretions.  He  who 
reads  through  the  New  Testament  finds  himself  educated 
as  by  an  orderly  scheme  of  advancing  doctrine.  The  sev- 
eral books  seem  to  have  grown  into  their  places  as  compo- 
nent parts^of  an  organic  whole  ;  and  "  the  New  Testament 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ "  lies  before  us  as  an 
account  of  a  perfected  revelation,  and  a  course  of  divine 
teaching  designed  and  prepared  by  one  presiding  mind. 

II.  Having  now  accomplished  the  preliminary  steps,  I 
will  close  this  introductory  Lecture  by  pointing  out  the 
reality  of  the  progress  of  which  I  speak,  the  stages  through 
which  it  is  perfected,  and  the  principles  by  which  it  is  regu- 
lated. 

1.  The  reality  of  this  progress  is  very  visible  ;  and  more 
especiall}^  so  when  we  regard  the  New  Testament  as  the 
last  stage  of  that  progressive  teaching  which  is  carried  on 
through  the  Scriptures  as  a  whole.  Glance  from  the  first 
words  to  the  last,  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heav- 
ens and  the  earth  "  —  "  Even  so,  come,  Lo^jl  Jesus."  How 
much  Y\4^  between  these  two  !  The  one  the  first  rudiment 
of  revelation  addressed  to  the  earliest  and  simplest  con- 
sciousness of  man,  that,  namel}- ,  which  comes  to  him  through 
his  senses,  the  consciousness  of  the  material  world  which 
lies  in  its  grandeur  round  him  :  the  other  the  last  cry  from 
within,  the  voice  of  the  heart  of  man,  such  as  the  interven- 
ing teaching  has  made  it ;  the  expr^ion  of  the  definite 
faith  which  has  been  found,  and  of  the  certain  hope  which 
has  been  left  by  the  whole  revelation  of  God.  The  course 
of  teaching  which  carries  us  from  the  one  to  the  other  is 
progressive  throughout,  but  with  different  rates  of  progress 
in  the  two  stages  which  divide  it.  In  the  Old  Testament 
the  progress  is  protracted,  interrupted,  often  languid,  some- 


44  THE   PROGRESS   OF  DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

times  so  dubious  as  to  seem  like  retrogression.  Accessions 
take  place  in  sundry  parts,  in  divers  manners,  at  times  un- 
der disguises  of  earthly  forms,  seeming  to  suggest  mistakes, 
which  have  to  be  themselves  corrected.  Yet  through  it  all 
the  doctrine  grows,  and  the  revelation  draws  iwarer  to  the 
great  disclosure.  Then  there  is  entire  suspension.  We 
turn  the  vacant  page  which  represents  the  silence  of  400 
years,  — and  we  are  in  the  New  Testament. 

Now  again  there  is  progress,  but  rapid  and  unbroken. 
Our  steps  before  were  centuries  ;  now  they  are  but  years. 
From  the  manger  of  Bethlehem  on  earth  to  the  city  of  God 
coming  down  from  heaven  the  great  scheme  of  things 
unrolls  before  us,  without  a  check,  without  a  break.  It  is  in 
harmony  with  processes  of  nature  and  with  human  feelings, 
that  preparations  should  be  slowly  matured,  but  that  final 
results  should  rapidly  unfold.  When  life  becomes  intense 
it  can  no  more  endure  delaj^s,  or  develop  itself  by  languid 
progression.  The  root  was  long  before  it  showed  the  token 
of  its  iH-esenccjithe  stem  and  leaves  grew  slowly,  but  yes- 
terday the  bud  emerged  from  its  sheath,  and  tdftlay  it  is 
expanded  in  the  flower.  A  swift  course  of  events,  the  period 
of  one  human  life,  a  few  contemporary  writers  have  given 
us  all  the  gospel  that  we  need  to  know  under  our  present 
dispensation,  all  that  we  shall  ever  know  till  Jesus  comes 
again. 

But  there  is,  as  liafe  been  observed,  a  plan  of  progress 
though  its  course  is  swift,  and  I  would  take  note  first  of  its 
stages  and  then  of  its  principles. 

2.  Its  stages  1  do  not  now  examine  ;  but  just  mark  them 
ofi"  as  they  catch  the  eye.  First  we  are  conducted  through 
the  manifestation  of  Christ  in  the  flesh :  we  see  and  hear 
and  learn  to  know  the  living  person,  who  is  at  once  thQ 


LeCT.  I.  THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  45 

source  and  the  subject  of  all  the  doctrine  of  which  we  speak. 
He  is  presented  as  the  source,  of  doctrine,  delivering  with 
his  own  lips  the  first  Christian  instructions,  the  first 
preaching  of  a  present  gospel  and  the  pregnant  principles 
of  truth.  He  is  presented  as  the  subject  of  doctrine,  for 
it  is  himself  that  he  offers  to  us  by  word  and  deed  as  the 
object  of  our  faith,  and  the  events  which  we  see  accom- 
plished in  his  earthly  history  are  the  predestined  substance 
of  all  subsequent  instruction.  But  within  this  stage  of 
learning  there  is  not  only  continuous  development  by  the 
course  of  events  and  accumulation  of  facts,  but  at  a  certain 
point  a  gi*eat  change  occurs,  which  is  visible  to  every  eye. 
It  is  the  point  where  we  pass  from  the  sjmoptic  Gospels 
and  come  under  the  teaching  of  St.  John.  Now  we  rise 
to  heaven,  and  go  back  to  "  the  beginning,"  and  set  forth 
from  "the  bosom  of  the  Father."  Now  we  are  taught  to 
recognize  the  glory  of  the  person  of  Chiist,  with  a  con- 
sciousness not  changed  but  more  distinct,  with  acknowl- 
edgments not  new  but  more  articulate.  In  the  former  Gos- 
pels we  have  walked  with  him  in  the  common  paths  of  life  ; 
in  this  we  seem  to  have  joined  him  on  "the  holy  mount." 
It  is  almost  like  the  change  which  was  witnessed  b}^  the 
three  disciples,  who  had  walked  conversing  by  his  side,  and 
then  suddenly  ^w  his  countenance  altered  and  his  raiment 
white  and  glistering.  Such  is  the  efiect  upon  our  minds, 
not  merely  of  the  last  Evangelist's  own  expressions,  but  of 
that  selection  of  words  and  acts  which  it  was  his  commis- 
sion to  make  and  to  leave. 

We  close  the  Gospels  and  open  the  books  which  follow. 
We  have  passed  a  great  landmark  and  are  farther  on  our 
way ;  yet  the  line  of  doctrine  which  we  pursue  seems  to 
have  sunk  to  a  lower  level,  for  we  cease  to  be  taught  by 


46  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

the  lips  of  the  Incarnate  Word,  and  are  remitted  to  the 
discourses  and  wi'itings  of  men.  Is  this  progress?  He 
assured  us  that  it  would  be  ;  and  we  find  that  it  is. 

We  are  under  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit ;  and  in  the 
book  of  Acts  are  borne,  by  seeming  accident  but  by  invis- 
ible guidance,  straight  along  that  line  of  fact  and  of 
thought  in  which  we  are  to  find  the  full  developments  of 
the  truth  which  was  given  in  the  Gospels. 

In  matter  of  doctrine  the  book  of  Acts  is  our  introduc- 
tion to  the  Epistles.  Here  if  the  authority  of  the  teacher 
seems  lowered  from  what  it  was  in  the  Gospels,  the  fulness 
of  the  doctrine  is  visibly  increased.  Its  more  mysterious 
parts  are  seen  expanded  and  defined.  Statements  which 
might  seem  of  doubtful  meaning  in  the  former  stage  have 
found  a  fixed  interpretation  in  the  latter.  Suggestions  of 
thought  in  the  one  have  become  habits  of  thought  in  the 
other.  What  were  only  facts  there  have  become  doctrines 
here ;  and  truths,  which  just  gleamed  from  a  parable,  or 
startled  us  in  some  sudden  saying,  are  now  deliberately 
expanded  into  manifold  and  recognized  relations  with  the 
feelings  and  necessities  of  man.  The  nature  and  conse- 
quences of  the  work  of  Christ  on  earth,  the  offices  for  men 
which  he  now  fulfils  in  heaven,  the  living  relations  which 
he  bears  to  his  people  in  the  Spirit,  the  discoveries  of  his 
majest}^  and  communication  of  his  glory  which  are  ready  to 
be  revealed  in  the  last  time,  all  these  are  seen  in  the  apos- 
tolic writings,  sometimes  asserted  as  perspicuous  doctrine, 
more  often  blending  and  kindling  together  in  the  inward 
life  of  the  Spirit,  giving  the  form  to  the  character  and  the 
motives  to  the  life. 

Yet  a  further  change  takes  place  as  we  reach  the  close  of 
the  Scriptures.     This  inward  and  personal  life  in  the  Spirit 


LeCT.  I.  THE   NEW   TESTA^IENT.  47 

is  not  all.  There  is  a  kingdom  of  Christ,  which  has  its 
form,  its  history,  its  destinies.  In  the  later  Epistles  we 
see  a  constituted  society,  and  hear  the  sounds  of  a  coming 
conflict :  the  Church  appears  on  the  defensive,  and  the 
steps  of  invisible  powers  are  moving  round  her.  The  pro- 
phetic book  which  follows  transports  us  into  the  unseen 
world,  and  opens  the  temple  of  God  in  heaven,  and  shows 
us  the  connection  of  the  historj^  of  the  Church  with  things 
above  and  things  below ;  and  guides  through  the  dim  con- 
fusion of  the  conflict  to  the  last  victory  of  the  Lamb, 
leaving  us  at  last  among  the  full  effects  of  redemption,  in 
a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  and  in  a  holy  society  and 
city  of  God. 

3.  Having  cast  our  eye  along  the  stages  of  advance,  we 
next  inquire  after  the  principles  by  which  it  is  governed ; 
and  we  find  them  in  the  relations  which  the  doctrine  bears 
to  its  author,  which  it  bears  to  the  facts  on  which  it  is 
founded,  which  it  bears  to  the  human  mind  to  which  it  is 
addressed,  and  which  its  component  parts  bear  to  each 
other. 

a.  The  relation  of  the  doctrine  to  its  autlior  is  the  ground 
of  its  continuous  unity,  and  unless  there  be  unity  we  have 
no  right  to  speak  of  progress  :  for  succession  is  of  many, 
but  progress  is  of  one.  The  unity  of  the  New  Testament 
doctrine  lies  in  this,  that  it  is  the  teaching  of  one  mind,  the 
mind  of  Christ.  The  security  for  this  is  given  to  us  in  two 
ways :  first  by  the  fact  that  there  is  no  part  of  the  later 
and  larger  doctrine  which  has  not  its  germs  and  principles 
in  the  words  which  he  spake  with  his  own  lips  in  the  days 
of  his  flesh.  It  is  provided  that  all  which  is  to  be  spoken 
after  shall  find  support  and  proof  from  his  own  pregnant  and 
forecasting  sayings.     Secondly,  it  is  made  clear  by  his  own 


^ 


48  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.      LeCT.  I. 

promises  beforehand,  by  facts  which  evidence  his  personal 
administration,  and  by  the  distinct  assertions  of  the  men 
whom  he  employs,  that,  when  his  own  voice  has  ceased  on 
earth,  it  is  nevertheless  he  who  teaches  still.  The  testimo- 
nies of  this  are  scattered  along  our  wiiole  path,  till  we 
come  to  the  last  vision  itself,  in  wiiich  he  personally  reap- 
pears, *'  to  show  unto  his  servants  the  Revelation  which 
God  gave  unto  him,"  renewing  thereby  for  the  last  time  the 
assertion  of  our  text,  "  I  have  given  unto  them  the  words 
which  thou  gavest  me." 

b.  The  relation  of  the  doctrine  to  the  facts  on  which  it 
is  founded  is  a  principle  by  which  a  certain  measure  of  prog- 
ress is  necessarily  constituted.  Christian  doctrine  does 
not  ground  itself  on  speculation.  It  begins  from  the 
region  and  the  testimony  of  the  senses.  Its  materials  are 
facts,  and  it  is  itself  the  interpretation  and  application  of 
them.     It  is  therefore  reasonable  that  the  facts  should  be 

/  completed,  before  they  are  clearly  interpreted  and  fully 
(  applied.  Jesus  must  have  died  and  risen  again  before  the 
Sdoctrine  concerning  his  death  and  resurrection  can  be 
brought  to  light.  Not  till  the  Son  of  Man  is  glorified  can 
we  expect  to  arrive  at  a  stage  of  doctrine  which  shall  give 
all  tlie  meaning  and  the  virtue  of  facts  which  till  then  were 
not  completed.  Up  to  that  time  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a 
history  of  which  his  own  saying  is  true,  "  What  I  do  thou 
knowest  not  now,  but  thou  shalt  know  hereafter." 

c.  The  relation  of  the  doctrine  to  the  human  mind  does 
also  plainly  necessitate  a  particular  kind  of  progress  in  the 
method  of  its  communication.  The  doctrine  was  not 
meant  to  be  an  opinion  but  a  power :  "  The  words  that  I 
speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life."  It 
therefore  had  to  pass  from  the  form  of  a  divine  announce- 


LeCT.  I.  THE   KEW   TESTAMENT.  49 

ment  into  the  form  of  a  human  experience.  It  had  to  es- 
tablish its  own  connection  with  the  world  of  human 
thoughts  and  feelings.  Once  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord,  it  might  perhaps  have  been  left  to  make  this  transition 
according  to  the  natural  laws  of  the  human  mind.  But  the 
transition  in  itself  was  too  great,  the  consequences  of  error 
in  the  first  stage  of  it  would  be  too  momentous,  for  the 
Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith  to  leave  the  Church  to  her 
ordinar}^  resources  at  so  critical  a  moment.  He  would  give 
a  divine  certainty  and  authority  to  the  first  human  appre- 
hensions of  his  truth.  He  would  make  it  sure  that  he  had 
himself  conducted  those  first  experiences  and  applications 
of  the  word,  by  which  future  experiences  and  applications 
might  be  guided  and  tried  forever.  Therefore  the  word 
spoken  to  men  by  the  voice  of  Jesus  changed  into  a  word 
spoken  in  men  by  his  Spirit,  creating  thus  a  kind  of  teach- 
ing which  carried  his  word  into  more  intimate  connection 
yrith  human  thought  and  more  varied  application  to  human 
life. 

d.  Lastly,  the  relation  of  the  several  parts  of  doctrine  to 
each  other  would  call  for  a  certain  orderly  course  of  devel- 
opment. There  is  a  natural  fitness  that  the  knowledge  or 
the  Lord  himself  should  precede  the  knowledge  of  his  workJ 
and  that  we  should  wait  on  his  ministry  on  earth  before  we 
apprehend  his  ministry  in  heaven,  and  that  we  should  see 
that  we  are  reconciled  by  his  death  before  we  understand 
how  we  are  saved  by  his  life ;  embracing  the  meritorious 
means  before  we  expatiate  among  the  glorious  issues.  It 
is  reasonable  that  an  acquaintance  with  Christ  himself,  and 
a  knowledge  of  his  work  and  grace,  should  be  given  first, 
and  that,  from  the  source  thus  provided,  the  rules  and  mo- 
tives of  conduct  should  afterwards  be  elicited.     It  is  right 

6 


50  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  I. 

that  we  should  be  fully  and  clearly  instructed  in  the  things 
of  our  present  dispensation,  and  in  the  life  of  faith  through 
which  we  are  passing  now,  and  in  the  kingdom  of  an  inward 
and  spiritual  grace,  and  then  that  we  should  be  subse- 
quently informed,  and  more  dimly  and  briefly  too,  of  the 
great  history  of  the  unseen  conflict  with  which  we  are  more 
remotely  concerned,  and  of  its  final  issues  when  the  former 
things  will  have  passed  away  and  God  shall  make  all  things 
new.  These  various  parts  of  the  doctrine,  though  in  some 
degree  commingling  and  interfused,  do  yet  on  the  whole 
sort  themselves  out  in  Gospels,  Epistles,  and  Apocalj^pse. 

Lift  up  now  your  eyes  on  this  monument  of  a  distant  age 
which  you  call  the  New  Testament.  Behold  these  remains 
of  the  original  literature  of  a  busy  Jewish  sect ;  these  occa- 
sional writings  of  its  leaders,  emanating  from  different  hands 
and  gathered  from  diff'erent  localities.  They  are  delivered 
to  you  collected  and  arranged,  though  by  means  which  3'OU 
cannot  ascertain.  They  are  before  you  now,  not  as  acci- 
dentally collected  writings,  but  as  one  book  ;  a  design  com- 
pleted, a  body  organized,  and  pervaded  by  one  inward  life. 
The  several  parts  grow  out  of  and  into  ea(jh  other  with 
mutual  support,  correlative  functions,  and  an  orderly  devel- 
opment. It  is  a  "  whole  body  fitly  joined  together  and  com- 
pacted by  that  which  every  joint  supplies,  according  to  the 
effectual  working  in  the  measure  of  every  part,  making  in- 
crease of  the  bodjT^  to  the  building  itself  up  "  in  truth. 

It  begins  with  the  person  of  Christ,  and  the  facts  of  his 
manifestation  in  the  flesh,  and  the  words  which  he  gave 
from  his  Father ;  and  accustoms  us  by  degrees  to  behold 
his  glor}^,  and  to  discern  the  drift  of  his  teaching  and  to 
expect  the  consequences  of  his  work.  It  passes  on  to  his 
body  the  Church,  and  opens  the  dispensation  of  his  Spirit, 


Lect.  I.  THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  •  51 

and  carries  us  into  the  life  of  his  people,  yea  down  into  the 
secret  places  of  their  hearts  ;  and  there  translates  the  an- 
nouncements of  God  into  the  experiences  of  man,  and  discov- 
ers a  conversation  in  heaven  and  a  life  which  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God.  It  works  out  practical  applications,  and  is 
careful  in  the  details  of  duty,  and  provides  for  difficulties 
and  perplexities,  and  suggests  the  order  of  Churches,  and 
throws  up  barriers  against  the  wiles  of  the  devil.  It  shows 
us  things  to  come,  the  course  of  the  spiritual  conflict,  and 
the  close  of  this  transient  scene,  and  the  coming  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the  eternal 
judgment,  and  the  new  creation,  and  the  life  everlasting. 

Thus  it  is  furnished  for  all  emergencies  and  prepared  for 
perpetual  use.  It  dominates  the  restless  course  of  thought, 
and  is  ever  being  interpreted  by  experience  and  CA^ents.  It 
is  an  authority  which  survives  when  others  perish,  and  a 
light  which  waxes  when  others  wane.  By  it,  as  the  i^istru- 
ment  of  God  for  the  education  of  men,  nations  are  human- 
ized and  churches  sanctified.  And  yet  more  real  and  last- 
ing than  these  are  the  ultimate  results  which  it  secures. 
An  elect  nation'  is  being  gathered  from  among  us,  and  an 
eternal  Church  prepared,  which  shall  supplant  all  transient 
and  provisional  societies  in  that  day  for  which  the  whole 
creation  waits.  Here  is  the  final  scope  of  the  Book  of  our 
covenant,  in  its  combination  with  that  older  volume  which 
it  continues  and  completes. 

Then  is  it  not  to  each  of  us  a  matter  of  the  deepest  per- 
sonal concern,  that  the  truth  which  it  teaches  and  the  spirit 
which  it  breathes  should  have  entered  into  his  own  soul ; 
and  that  he  should  thus  become  a  partaker  in  the  life  w^hich 
it  reveals,  an  example  of  the  character  which  it  demands, 
and  an  inheritor  of  the  portion  which  it  promises?    But 


52       .   THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.      LeCT.  I. 

this  cannot  be,  unless  he  yield  to  the  Written  Word  the 
confidence  which  it  claims.  Oh !  deal  worthily,  deal  trust- 
fully with  such  a  guide  as  this  !  Venture  your  souls  on  the 
words  of  which  the  Lord  has  said,  "  I  have  given  unto  them 
the  words  which  thou  gavest  me."  Receive  the  message, 
receive  the  form  in  which  it  is  left  to  you,  "  not  as  the  word 
of  man,  but  as  it  is  in  truth,  the  word  of  God,"  and  then 
you  will  find  that  it  "effectually  worketh  also  in  them  that 
believe"  ;  for  he  who  "  obeys  from  the  heart  that  form  of 
doctrine  into  which  he  is  delivered,"  finds  that  a  course  of 
progressive  teaching  is  opened  in  his  own  soul,  to  which  the 
Holy  Scripture  will  never  cease  to  minister,  and  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  will  never  cease  to  guide. 


LECTURE    11. 

THE    GOSPELS. 

THE    BEGINNING  OF    THE    GOSPEL    OF    JESUS  CHRIST,  THE  SON  OF  GOD. — 

St.  Mark  i.  1. 

With  reverential  and  affectionate  interest  we  look  back 
to  the  beginnings  of  those  things  which  possess  our  alle- 
giance as  established  powers,  or  are  daily  enjoyed  as  familiar 
blessings.  The  thought  that  they  had  a  beginning,  that 
there  was  once  a  time  when  they  were  not,  gives  a  fresh- 
ness to  the  feelings  with  which  we  regard  them  ;  while  the 
comparison  of  the  state  of  commencement  with  the  state  of 
perfection  bikings  with  it  a  natural  pleasure,  in  mariiing  the 
tendencies  and  the  tokens  of  all  that  has  happened  since. 
No  words  can  open  the  heart  to  these  impressions  so 
powerfully  as  those  which  have  just  been  uttered.  The 
beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God, 
places  us  at  the  opening  of  the  mystery  of  godliness,  of  the 
salvation  of  the  world,  of  the  glory  which  fills  the  heavens, 
and  of  the  kingdom  which  endures  forever. 

The  expression  with  which  St.  Mark  opens  his  narrative 
implies  that  the  Gospel  is  then  an  established  fact  and  a 
completed  scheme,  and  that  he  here  returns  to  the  moment 
when  the  fact  began  to  assert  itself  before  the  world  as 
already  present,  and  the  scheme  to  show  itself  as  in  actual 
progress.  The  beginning  of  the  Gospel  (according  to  this 
Evangelist)  is  not  found  at  the  birth  of  Jesus,  when  the 
communications  of  Heaven  were  made  but  to  few,  and  died 


54  THE   PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  II. 

suddenly  into  silence ;  but  from  the  time  when  John  did 
baptize  in  the  wilderness,  and  when  Jesus  began  to  show 
himself,  and  "the  word  of  the  beginning  of  Christ"  was 
publicly  proclaimed,  never  to  be  again  suspended  till  it 
should  have  become  the  word  of  a  completed  Gospel.  It 
is  indeed  the  habit  of  the  Apostles  to  represent  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Gospel  as  historically  commencing  at  the  same 
point  of  time.  "  The  word,"  says  St.  Peter,  "which  God 
sent  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  preaching  peace  by  Jesus 
Christ,  —  that  word  began  from  Galilee,  after  the  baptism 
which  John  preached  ;  ^  and  St.  Paul,  in  presenting  to  the 
Jews  "the  word  of  this  salvation,"  dates  its  proclamation 
from  the  time  "  when  John  had  first  preached  before  his 
coming  the  baptism  of  repentance  to  all  the  people  of 
Israel."  ^ 

But  the  expression  which  is  used  in  the  text  of  the  open- 
ing of  the  public  life  of  Jesus  may  also  be  truly  applied  to 
the  whole  period  of  that  life.  The  Gospel,  considered  as 
fact^  began  from  the  Incarnation,  and  was  completed  at  the 
Resurrection ;  but  the  Gospel,  considered  as  doctrine^ 
began  from  the  first  preaching  of  Jesus,  and  was  completed 
in  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit.  When  the  Lord  quitted 
the  world,  he  left  the  material  of  the  Gospel  already  per- 
fect, but  the  exposition  of  the  Gospel  only  begun  ;  and  in 
the  subsequent  consciousness  of  his  disciples,  the  period  of 
the  commencement  of  the  word  and  the  period  of  its  j)er- 
fection  must  have  been  strongly  discriminated  from  each 
other. 

When  living  in  the  perfect  dispensation  of  the  Spirit, 
and  going  to  others  in  the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the 

lActs  X.  36,  37.  2  Ibid.  xii.  24. 


Lect.  II.  THE   GOSPELS.  55 

Gospel  of  Christ,  they  would  remember  how  that  Gospel 
dawijed  graduallj^  on  their  minds  during  the  few  years  in 
which  its  facts  had  been  passing  before  their  eyes,  how  im- 
perfectly they  had  understood  those  facts,  how  inadequately 
they  had  apprehended  the  teaching  by  which  the  facts  were 
accompanied,  how  true  it  was  that  what  their  Lord  did 
they  knew  not  then,  but  that  they  were  to  know  it  after- 
wards. To  them  that  whole  period  of  time  must  have 
seemed  but  an  initiatory  stage,  a  "  beginning  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God." 

And  so  it  was.  The  Gospel  which  Jesus  preached  was 
a  Gospel  which  in  its  main  particulars  had  yet  to  be  ful- 
filled, and  which  could  not  be  fully  opened  till  it  had  been 
fulfilled.  While  the  facts  were  still  incomplete,  the  doc- 
trine was  3"et  in  its  commencement ;  and  we  have  on  this 
account  the  right  to  describe  by  the  words  of  the  text,  not 
only  VnQ  first  steps  but  the  icJiole  of  the  manifestation  of 
Christ  in  the  flesh.  The  beginning  of  the  Gospel  is  a  name 
which  in  one  sense  comprehends  "  all  that  Jesus  began  both 
to  do  and  teach  until  the  day  when  he  was  taken  up." 

To  us  this  stage  of  the  divine  teaching  is  represented  by 
the  writings  of  the  four  Evangelists  ;  and  I  would  now  con- 
sider this  collection,  first  relatively,  as  the  beginning  of  the 
orderly  development  of  the  Christian  doctrine  in  the  whole 
New  Testament,  and  then  separately,  as  a  course  of  teach- 
ing which  bears  within  its  own  limits  a  certain  character 
of  S3^stematic  advance. 

Two  such  topics,  included  in  a  single  Lecture,  can 
receive  little  more  than  a  suggestive  treatment ;  but  I  pray 
that  this  may  not  occasion  any  defect  of  that  careful  rever- 
ence with  which  the  fourfold  Gospel  must  be  ever  touched 


56  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  II. 

by  those  who  see  in  it  the  very  ark  of  the  covenant,  where 
the  cherubim  of  glory  overshadow  the  mercy-seat. 

I.  First,  then,  we  have  to  observe  how  the  Gospel  collec- 
tion is  fitted  to  its  place  and  fulfils  its  function,  as  the  com- 
mencement  of  the  Christian  doctrine  in  the  Neio  Testament, 

Now  the  Christian  doctrine  is  a  doctrine  concerning  facts 
which  have  occurred  and  a  person  who  has  been  manifested 
within  the  sphere  of  human  observation.  The  foundations 
of  alL  that  is  to  be  known  of  the  word  of  life  are  laid  in 
"  that  which  was  seen  with  the  eyes,  and  heard  with  the 
ears,  and  handled  with  the  hands"  of  men.  Then  it  is 
necessary  for  every  learner  that,  before  all  inferences  or  ap- 
plications, the  facts  themselves  as  mere  phenomena  should 
first  be  rendered  in  the  clearest  light.  Hence  our  elemen- 
tary lessons  are  narratives  of  the  simplest  form.  A  plain 
report  of  words  and  deeds,  eas}^  and  inartificial  in  the  ex- 
treme, in  which  the  most  stupendous  events  elicit  no  articu- 
late expression  of  feeling,  without  appearance  of  plan  or 
sj^stem,  with  scarcely  a  comment  or  reflection,  and  in  which 
a  word  of  explanation  almost  startles  us  —  such  is  the  char- 
acter of  the  three  first  of  those  writings  which  form  the 
ground  and  contain  the  material  of  all  subsequent  Christian 
doctrine.  No  literary  fact  is  more  remarkable  than  that 
men,  knowing  what  these  writers  knew,  and  feeling  what 
they  felt,  should  have  given  us  chronicles  so  plain  and 
calm.  They  have  nothing  to  say  as  from  themselves.  Their 
narratives  place  us  without  preface,  and  keep  us  without 
comment,  among  external  scenes,  in  full  view  of  facts,  and 
in  contact  with  the  living  person  whom  they  teach  us  to 
know.  The  style  of  simple  recital,  unclouded  and  scarcely 
colored  by  any  perceptible  contribution  from  the  mind  of 
the  writers,  gives  us  the  scenes,  the  facts,  and  the  person, 


LeCT.  II.  THE   GOSPELS.  57 

as  seen  in  the  clearest  light  and  through  the  most  transpa- 
rent atmosphere.  Who  can  fail  to  recognize  a  divine  pro- 
vision for  placing  the  disciples  of  all  future  ages  as  nearly 
as  possible  in  the  position  of  those  who  had  been  personally 
present  at  "  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Chiist 
the  Son  of  God?" 

The  importance,  in  the  whole  course  of  instruction,  of 
first  fixing  on  the  mind  both  the  objective  reality  of  the  facts 
and  the  living  portrait  of  the  person,  is  further  intimated  by 
the  fourfold  repetition  of  the  history.  Four  times  does  the 
Lord  walk  before  us  in  the  glory  of  grace  and  truth,  and, 
whatever  correspondences  or  variations  the  Gospels  may 
exhibit  in  other  parts  of  their  narratives,  four  times  are  the 
great  facts  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ  rehearsed 
to  us  in  the  minuteness  of  circumstantial  detail.  We  do 
not  go  forward  to  further  disclosures,  till  the  historical  facts 
have  been  insured  to  us  by  testimony  upon  testimony,  and 
the  portrait  has  grown  familiar  to  us  b}^  line  upon  line. 

Far  on  in  the  holy  books,  when  the  scriptural  structure  is 
nearly  perfected,  our  eyes  are  turned  back  to  the  ground  of 
visible,  audible,  tangible  realities  from  which  we  started. 

^'  That  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which  we  have 
heard,  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have 
looked  upon,  and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the  Word  of 
life  (for  the  life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen  it,  and 
bear  witness,  and  show  unto  you  that  eternal  life,  which 
was  with  the  Father  and  was  manifested  to  us) ,  that  which 
we  have  seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you,  that  ye  also 
may  have  fellowship  with  us."  ^ 

Yes,  it  is  true.     We  have  fellowship  with   those  that 

1 1  John  i.  1-3, 


58  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  Lect.  II. 

speak,  not  only  in  their  spiritual  relations  with  their  Lord 
(which  they  fully  understood  only  after  he  was  gone),  but 
in  their  remembrances  of  him  in  that  earlier  time  when  he 
was  3'et  with  them.  Their  witness  is  effectual  for  this  end. 
For  us  also  it  is  all  real.  He  dwelt  among  us.  We  beheld 
his  glory.  We  caught  the  gracious  words  that  proceeded 
out  of  his  mouth.  So  things  went  with  him.  So  he  looked 
and  moved  and  spoke.  So  he  wrought  and  suffered  and 
died.  We  have  stood  by  the  cross  of  Jesus.  We  have 
entered  the  empty  sepulchre.  We  have  seen  him  alive  after 
his  passion.  He  has  shown  us  his  hands  and  his  feet.  We 
have  been  led  out  as  far  as  to  Bethan}- ,  have  seen  the  hands 
lifted  up  to  bless,  and  watched  the  ascending  form. 

Open  these  pages  where  we  will,  the  sense  of  reality  re- 
vives within  us.  We  feel  afresh  that  we  have  not  followed 
cunningly  devised  fables,  have  not  loved  an  idea,  or  trusted 
in  an  abstraction.  We  know  in  whom  we  have  believed, 
and  feel  that  our  Redeemer  is  our  friend.  We  are  sol- 
emnized as  in  a  holy  sanctuary,  and  secure  as  in  a  familiar 
home.  We  have  escaped  from  doubt  and  debate,  and  no 
longer  criticise  or  reason.  We  have  recovered  the  mind 
of  little  children.  We  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus :  and  the 
faith  which  came  into  his  presence  languid  and  disconcerted, 
departs  invigorated  and  refreshed. 

Brethren,  let  me  urge  upon  you  the  habitual  study  of  the 
holy  Gospels  for  this  revival  of  the  reality  and  simplicity 
of  faith.  Let  me  urge  it  more  especially  upon  those  who 
converse  in  the  region  of  abstract  ideas,  whether  they  fre- 
quent the  ordered  paths  of  systematic  divinity,  or  wander 
in  the  free  excursions  of  speculative  thought.  Dear  as  the 
Gospel  stories  are  to  the  simple  peasant,  they  are  yet  more 
necessary  to  the  student  and  the  divine  ;  for  there  are  influ- 


LeCT.  II.  THE    GOSPELS.  59 

ences  in  abstract  thought  and  in  dogmatic  discussion  which 
will  drain  the  soul  of  life  unless  fitting  antidotes  be  used  : 
and  there  is  no  antidote  so  efiectual,  as  is  found  in  a  con- 
tinual return  to  those  scenes  of  historic  fact  in  which  the 
word  of  God  has  given  us  our  first  lessons  in  Christ. 

This  necessity  for  habitual  converse  with  the  evangelical 
narratives  is  a  suflScient  proof  of  the  wisdom  which  assigned 
them  the  place  and  the  space  which  the}^  actually  fill,  and 
especially  which  ordained  that  the  picture  of  our  Lord's 
earthly  life  should  be  given  to  us  not  in  one  Gospel,  but  in 
four. 

I  suppose  we  all  feel  how  different  would  have  been  the 
effect  of  possessing  one  "  Life  of  Christ,"  however  full  and 
systematic.  We  spend  more  time,  and  (if  I  maj'-  use  the 
expression)  feel  more  at  home,  in  the  four  successive  cham- 
bers than  we  should  have  done  in  one  long  gallery  ;  and  the 
impression  of  all  that  is  there  shown  to  us  sinks  deeper  into 
the  heart,  from  the  repetition  of  many  passages  of  the  story 
under  slightly  varying  lights  and  in  different  relative  con- 
nections. Lively  attention,  minute  observation,  careful 
comparison,  and  inquiry  which  is  never  fully  satisfied,  are 
awakened  at  every  step  by  that  singular  combination  of 
resemblances  and  differences  ;  and  the  mind  is  thus  engaged 
to  dwell  longer  on  the  scenes,  conversing  among  them  in  a 
more  animated  spirit,  and  with  an  interest  which  is  per- 
petuall}^  refreshed.  We  know  the  immense  expenditure  of 
labor  in  our  own  day  on  the  comparative  characteristics  of 
the  Gospels,  and  the  manifold  attempts  to  harmonize  or  to 
reconstruct  them,  to  ascertain  the  point  of  view  of  the 
writers,  and  to  account  for  the  variations  in  their  selection 
and  position  of  incidents  and  in  the  turn  which  they  give  to 
discourses.     Whatever  be  the  spirit  in  which  such  attempts 


60  THE   PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRIXE.  LeCT.  II. 

are  made,  they  at  least  afford  an  incidental  witness  to  the 
care  which  divine  wisdom  has  taken  to  detain  and  occupy 
our  minds  at  the  outset  in  those  scenes  in  which  alone  we 
can  learn  to  know  Jesus  Christ  himself. 

It  is  plain  that  the  four  histories  are  modified  by  their 
own  instinctive  principles  of  selection  and  arrangement, 
which  do  not  indeed  announce  themselves,  and  almost  elude 
our  attempts  to  ascertain  them,  but  y^i  result  in  giving 
four  discriminated  aspects  of  their  common  subject,  as  the 
Royal  Lawgiver,  the  Mighty  Worker,  the  Friend  of  Man, 
and  the  Son  of  God  —  four  aspects,  but  one  portrait ;  for  if 
the  attitude  and  the  accessories  vary,  the  features  and  the 
expression  are  the  same.  ^^^ 

Who  does  not  perceive  the  immense  assistance  hereby 
given  to  us  for  receiving  the  knowledge  of  Christ  ?  One 
representation,  however  full,  would  still  have  suggested 
the  thought,  "This  is  the  impression  made  upon  a  single 
mind.  Who  can  say  what  part  of  it  is  due  to  the 
idiosyncrasies  of  the  witness  ?  If  we  had  the  impressions 
of  another  mind,  perhaps  we  should  have  a  different  image." 
As  it  is,  we  derive  the  impression  from  four  different  quar- 
ters, and  the  image  is  still  the  same.  It  is  represented 
from  four  different  points  of  view ;  but,  however  repre- 
sented, it  is  the  same  Jesus.  The  conception  is  one,  and 
its  unity  attests  its  truth.  We  feel  that  we  see  him  as  he 
was.  No  human  being  that  ever  trod  the  earth  has  left 
behind  a  representation  of  himself  more  clear  and  living, 


possess  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  in  Galilee. 

From  time  to  time  some  fresh  portrait  may  appear. 
Some  adventurous  imagination,  charmed  and  yet  perplexed 
by  the  Gospel  story,  may  attempt  to  reconstruct  it  in  ac- 


LeCT.    II.  THE    GOSPELS.  61 

cordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  world.  Unable  to  receive 
as  real  the  sole  example  of  sinless  hiimanit}^,  it  may  intro- 
duce into  the  picture  touches  of  the  error  and  infirmity 
which  are  not  there  ;  and  may  mistake  the  awful  gleams  of 
the  indwelling  Godhead  for  the  glimmer  of  an  enthusiasm 
which  deludes  and  is  deluded.  The  world  may  read  the 
bold  romance,  and  half  commend  the  creation  of  fancy. 
But  the  creations  of  fancy  perish  as  they  rise,  and  the 
Jesus  of  the  Gospels  remains  ;  not  only  as  a  perfect  ideal, 
but  as  a  vivid  reality,  a  representation  which  appears,  after 
every  fresh  attempt  to  change  it,  more  glorious  in  majesty 
and  beauty^  and  more  conspicuous  also  for  truthfulness 
and  life. 

In  placing  tJie  statement  of  the  person  of  Christ  as  the 
first  work  of  the  Gospel  histories,  and  as  the  beginning  of 
the  Gospel  itself,  I  speak  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
those  books  and  of  the  whole  ensuing  system  of  doctrine. 
Jesus  Christ  created  the  Gospel  by  his  work ;  he  preaches 
the  Gospel  by  his  words  ;  but  he  is  the  Gospel  in  himself. 
The  expression  is  but  the  condensation  of  a  hundred 
passages  of  Scripture  which  declare  him  to  he  that,  which, 
in  more  timid  but  less  adequate  language,  we  might  say 
that  he  wrought,  or  that  he  taught,  or  that  he  gave.  "  I  am 
the  resurrection  and  the  life."^  He  "is  our  peace,'* ^  he 
"  is  our  life,"=^  he  is  "the  hope  of  glory."*  "  He  of  God 
is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctifica- 
tion,  and '  redemption .-' ^  and  they  who  are  saved  "are 
made  partakers  of  Christ,"^  not  merely  of  his  gifts, 
whether  they  be  gifts  of  grace  or  glory.     Is  it  not  indeed 


1  John  xl.  25. 

2Eph.  11.  4. 

8Col.  iii.  4. 

4  Col.  1.27. 

0 

5 1  Cor.  i.  30. 

«Heb.  ill.  14. 

62  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  IT. 

the  distinguishiug  feature  of  the  Christian  system,  that  it 
places  the  foundation  of  salvation  in  living  relations  with  a 
living  person,  rather  than  in  the  adoption  of  opinions  or  of 
habits?  that  under  it  the  believer  is,  not  the  man  who 
maintains  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinit}^,  or  holds  "justifica- 
tion by  faith,"  but  the  man  who  has  "  come  to  "  Christ  and 
"  abides  in"  him? 

These  are  the  Lord's  own  words :  they  are  fundamental 
words  in  relation  to  all  that  is  added  afterwards  ;  they  are, 
in  matter  of  doctrine,  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel.  The 
writings  of  the  Evangelists  do  not  present  to  us  a  scheme 
of  doctrine  as  to  the  nature  of  Christ  or  as  to  the  work 
which  he  does.  They  present  to  us  the  Lord  Jesus  himself, 
as  he  showed  himself  to  men  in  order  to  win  their  confi- 
dence and  fix  their  trust.  Men  learned  to  know  him  and 
to  trust  him  before  they  fully  understood  who  he  was  and 
what  he  did. 

The  faith  which,  in  the  Gospel  stories,  we  see  asked  for 
and  given,  secured  and  educated,  is  a  faith  that  fastens 
itself  on  a  living  Saviour,  though  it  can  yet  but  little  com- 
prehend the  method  or  even  the  nature  of  the  salvation. 
Thus  the  New  Testament,  in  giving  us  these  narratives  for 
our  first  lessons  in  Christian  faith,  teaches  us  that  the 
essential  and  original  nature  of  that  faith  lies,  not  in  ac- 
ceptance of  truths  which  are  revealed,  but  in  confidence  in 
a  person  who  is  manifested.  "  He  that  cometh  to  me," 
"  He  that  believeth  on  me,"  is  the  Lord's  own  account  of 
the  child  of  the  new  covenant  who  is  the  fit  recipient  of  ad- 
vancing doctrine.  Faith,  as  seen  in  the  Gospels,  results 
not  in  the  first  place  from  the  miracles  which  justify  and 
sustain  it,  but  from  the  personal  impression  which  appeals 
to  the  conscience  and  the  spirit  in  man.     The  first  disciples 


LeCT.  II.  THE    GOSPELS.  63 

believed  before  a  miracle  had  been  shewn.  It  was  imputed 
as  a  fault,  "  Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders  ye  will  not 
believe  :"  ^  and  it  was  a  condescension  to  inferior  spiritual 
sensibilities  when  the  simple  words  "Believe  nie"^  were 
changed  to  "  Or  else  believe  me  for  the  very  works'  sake." 
As  it  was  with  those  disciples,  so  also  is  it  with  ourselves. 
The  evidential  works  have  their  own  most  important,  most 
necessar}'  office  :  but  the  Lord  himself  is  his  own  evidence, 
and  secures  our  confidence,  love,  and  adoration,  by  what 
he  is  more  than  what  he  does. 

We  pass  on  from  the  Gospel  histories  into  a  dispensation 
of  invisible  ofiices  and  spiritual  relations,  and  we  cany 
with  us  the  personal  knowledge  of  him  by  whom  these 
offices  and  relations  are  sustained.  It  is  this  which  secures 
that  thej^  should  not  be  to  us  a  system  of  ideas  and  abstrac- 
tions, of  words  and  names.  The  Mediator  between  God 
and  man,  the  High  Priest  in  the  spiritual  temple,  the  King 
on  the  unseen  throne,  is  this  same  Jesus  who  went  in  and 
out  among  us,  whom  we  have  seen  sitting  in  the  house  at 
Bethany,  or  by  the  well  at  Sycliem,  receiving  sinners, 
preaching  to  the  poor,  comforting  his  friends,  and  suffering 
little  children  to  come  to  him.  With  an  acqaintance 
already  formed,  a  confidence  alread}^  secured,  and  a  love 
already  awakened,  we  can  pass  with  a  prepared  heart  to 
more  abstruse  revelations  of  the  same  Lord,  when  he  is 
presented  as  the  righteousness  of  the  sinful  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans,  as  the  predestined  source  of  life  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  as  the  sacrifice  and  priest  of  the 
new  covenant  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.     Having  first 

1  John  iv.  48.  2  ibid.  xiv.  11. 


64  THE  PEOGKESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  II. 

knawTi  JiimseJf,  we  are  ready  for  the  Spirit  to  take  of  the 
things  which  are  his  and  show  them  to  us. 

II.  Our  reflectioDs  hitherto  have  turned  upon  the  relation 
which  the  Gospel  collection  bears  to  the  whole  New  Testa- 
ment, and  we  have  looked  at  it  as  the  beginning  of  a  course 
of  doctrine  extending  through  the  books  which  follow.  It 
is  now  further  to  be  noted,  that  its  own  separate  luork  is 
itself  fulfilled  on  an  ajyparent  j^lcin  of  ^progressive  develop- 
ment, which  is  constituted  by  the  relative  characters  of  the 
Gospels  viewed  in  the  order  which  they  have  habitually 
assumed. 

(1.)  The  collection  is  divided  into  two  parts  by  a  line  of 
demarcation  perceptible  to  every  eye  and  recognized  in 
every  age  ;  the  first  three  Gospels  forming  the  one  part  and 
the  fourth  Gospel  the  other.  The  former  naturally  pre- 
cedes, and  in  its  eflTect  prepares  us  for  the  latter.  We  are 
to  learn  the  great  lesson  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ : 
and  here,  as  in  most  other  subjects,  the  order  of  fact  is  not 
the  order  of  knowledge.  In  the  order  of  fact  the  glory  of 
the  divine  nature  precedes  the  plienomena  of  the  earthly 
manifestation ;  but  in  the  order  of  knowledge  the  reverse 
is  true.  Events  occurring  in  time,  a  place  in  human 
history,  and  the  external  aspect  of  a  life,  must  supply  the 
antecedent  conditions  for  the  higher  disclosures.  Thus  the 
triple  Gospel,  which  educates  us  among  scenes  of  earth, 
prepares  us  for  that  which  follows.  Our  minds  are  led 
along  that  very  course  of  thought  over  which  they  would 
have  moved  if  we  had  been  eye-witnesses  of  the  manifesta- 
tion of  Christ,  in  that  we  are  familiarized  with  its  ordinary 
aspect  and  most  frequent  characteristics,  before  our 
thoughts  are  riveted  on  those  peculiar  passages  in  which 
the  revelation  of  glory  is  most  concentrated,  and  which 


LeCT.  n.  THE   GOSPELS.  65 

serve  to  interpret  all  that  we  had  before  felt  to  be  im- 
plied. 

(2.)  Again,  if  the  synoptic  Gospels  are  taken  by  them- 
selves, we  observe,  even  within  the  limits  of  this  division, 
certain  orderly  steps  of  advance.  Each  of  these  narratives 
has  its  own  prevailing  character^  whereby  it  makes  its 
proper  contribution  to  the  complete  portrait  of  the  Lord  : 
each  also  has  its  own  historical  associations,  whereby  it 
represents  a  separate  stage  in  the  presentation  of  Christ 
to  the  world.  Both  the  internal  characters  and  the  his- 
torical associations  of  the  several  Gospels  have  been  fully 
wi'ought  out  by  recent  writers,  and  are  now  generally 
understood.  Yet  they  must  be  shortly  noticed  here,  for 
the  due  elucidation  of  the  statement  that  the  books  in  com- 
bination constitute  a  progressive  course. 

The  record  of  St.  Matthew,  ever  recognized  as  the 
Hebrew  Gospel,  is  the  true  commencement  of  the  New 
Testament,  showing  how  it  grows  out  of  the  Old,  and  pre- 
senting the  manifestation  of  the  Son  of  God  not  as  a  de- 
tached phenomenon,  but  as  the  predestined  completion  of 
the  long  course  of  historic  dispensations.  It  is  the  Book 
of  the  Generation  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  David,  the 
son  of  Abraham.  It  founds  itself  on  the  ideas  of  the  old 
covenant.  It  refers  at  every  step,  especially  in  its  earlier 
chapters,  to  the  former  Scriptures,  noting  how  that  was 
fulfilled  .which  was  spoken  by  the  prophets.  It  is  a  history 
of  fulfilment,  presenting  the  Lord  as  the  fulfiller  of  all 
righteousness,  the  fulfiller  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets, 
not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  It  sets  him  forth  as  a 
King  and  Lawgiver  in  that  kingdom  of  heaven  for  which 
a  birthplace  and  a  home  had  been  prepared  in  Israel :  and 
thus  corresponds  to  that  period  in  the  historical  course  of 

6* 


66  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  II. 

events  when  the  word  was  preached  to  none  but  to  the 
Jews  only/^^ 

The  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  is  tradition allj-  connected  with 
St.  Peter,  who  first  opened  the  door  of  Faith  to  Gentiles, 
and  has  the  appearance  of  being  addressed  to  such  a  class 
of  converts  as  it  was  given  to  that  Apostle  to  gather,  men 
like  the  devout  soldiers  of  Caesarea,  in  whom  the  Roman 
habit  of  mind  was  colored  by  contact  with  Judaism.  It  is 
the  Gospel  of  action^  rapid,  vigorous,  vivid.  Entering  at 
once  on  the  Lord's  official  and  public  career,  it  bears  us  on 
from  one  mightj^  deed  to  another  with  a  peculiar  swiftness 
of  movement,  and  yet  with  the  life  of  picturesque  detail. 
Power  over  the  visible  and  invisible  worlds,  especialh^  as 
shown  in  the  casting  out  of  devils,  is  the  prominent  char- 
acteristic of  the  picture.  St.  Peter's'  saying  to  Cornelius 
has  been  well  noticed  as  a  fit  motto  for  this  Gospel,  "  God 
anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with 
power,  who  went  about  doing  good  and  healing  all  those 
who  were  oppressed  of  the  devil."  In  relation  to  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  word  from  its  first  home  in  Jewry  to  its 
ultimate  prevalence  in  the  whole  earth,  this  Gospel  occupies 
an  intermediate  position  between  those  of  St.  Matthew  and 
St.  Luke.  Its  representation  of  the  Lord  is  disengaged 
from  those  close  connections  with  Jewish  life  and  thought 
which  the  first  Gospel  is  studious  to  exhibit,  while  it  is 
wanting  in  that  breadth  of  human  sympathy  and  special 
fitness  for  the  Gentile  mind  at  large  which  we  recognize  in 
the  treatise  of  St.  Luke. 

This  latter  Gospel  intimates  its  character  in  this  respect 
by  a  genealogy  which  presents  to  us  not  the  son  of  Abra- 
ham, but  the  son  of  Adam;  and  it  carries  out  the  intima- 
tion by  special  notice  of  om-  Lord's  familiar  intercourse 


Lect.  II.  the  gospels.  67 

with  human  life,  his  tender  s^nnpathies  with  human  feelings, 
his  large  compassion  for  human  woes.  The  preface,  ad- 
dressed to  a  Gentile  convert,  indicating  the  position,  of  the 
writer  in  regard  to  the  facts  which  he  will  relate,  and  speak- 
ing in  the  language  of  classical  composition,  shows  us  at 
the  outset  that  we  have  passed  from  Jewish  associations  to 
a  stage  in  the  histor}^  of  the  world  when  its  purpose  of 
expansion  has  been  proved,  and  its  character  of  universality 
established.  The  whole  tone  of  this  Gospel  constitutes  it 
pre-eminently  a  Gospel  for  the  Gentiles,  specially  adapted 
to  a  Greek  mind,  then,  in  some  sense,  the  mind  of  the  world. 
Its  internal  character  thus  accords  with  its  historical  posi- 
tion, as  the  Gospel  of  St.  Paul,  written  by  his  close  com- 
panion, and  circulated,  we  cannot  doubt,  in  the  Churches 
which  he  founded. 

As  the  book  of  Acts  shows  us  three  stages  in  the  outward 
progress  of  the  Gospel,  first  within  the  bounds  of  Judaism, 
then  in  the  work  of  St.  Peter,  spreading  bej^ond  those  limits 
in  the  Roman  direction,  and  finall}^  in  the  ministry  of  St. 
Paul,  delivered  freely  and  fullj^  to  the  world  ;  so  do  the 
sj'Uoptic  Gospels,  as  they  stand  in  the  canon,  correspond 
with  a  singular  fitness  to  those  three  periods.  We  are  going 
forward  as  we  pass  through  them,  and  are  completing  the 
representation  of  Christ,  not  by  mere  repetition  or  fortu- 
itous variation  in  our  point  of  view,  but  in  a  certain  orderly 
sequence,  corresponding  to  that  in  which  the  knowledge  of 
him  was  historically  opened  to  the  world.  The  evangelical 
narratives  are  the  proper  monuments  of  a  Gospel,  which 
first  asserted  itself  as  the  true  form  of  Judaism  and  the 
legitimate  consummation  of  the  old  covenant,  and  then 
unfolded  its  relations  with  the  whole  race  of  mankind,  and 
passed  into  the  keeping  of  a  Catholic  Church. 


68  THE  PKOGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     Lect.  II. 

(3.)  If  in  traversing  the  synoptic  Gospels  we  march  in  the 
line  of  a  historical  advance,  it  is  still  more  plain  that  we 
do  so  when  we  pass  to  the  teaching  of  St.  John. 

The  Gospel  of  Christ  had  no  sooner  completed  the  con- 
flicts through  which  it  established  its  relations  to  Judaism 
and  to  the  world,  than  it  entered  on  those  profound  and 
subtile,  those  various  and  protracted  controversies,  which 
turned  on  the  person  of  Christ.  This  was  the  natural  course 
of  events,  whether  we  regard  the  tendencies  of  human 
thought,  the  wiles  of  the  devil,  or  the  government  of  God. 
If  the  revelation  of  Christ  himself  (as  distinguished  from 
what  he  taught  and  what  he  wrought)  is  the  foundation  of 
the  whole  Gospel,  it  would  be  first  to  explore  this  mystery 
that  the  activities  and  subtleties  of  thought  would  address 
themselves  ;  it  would  be  first  to  destroy  this  mystery  that 
the  assaults  of  the  enemy  would  be  directed  ;  it  would  be 
first  in  securing  this  mystery  that  the  divine  guidance  of 
the  Church  would  be  made  manifest.  One  Apostle,  the  first 
and  the  last  of  the  "  glorious  company,"  was  chosen  as  the 
chief  instrument  for  settling  human  thought,  defeating  the 
wiles  of  the  devil,  and  certifying  the  witness  of  God.  There 
was  but  one  moment  in  which  the  conditions  for  such  a  pro- 
duction could  co-exist.  It  must  be  after  a  speculative  the- 
osophy  had  begun  to  form  its  language  and  manifest  its 
aberrations.  Yet  it  must  be  while  the  voice  of  an  eye-wit- 
ness could  still  be  lifted  up,  to  tell  what  eyes  had  seen,  and 
ears  had  heard,  and  hands  had  handled  of  the  Word  of 
Life  ;  so  that  the  clearest  intuitions  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus 
might  be  forever  blended  with  the  plainest  testimony  of  the 
senses  concerning  him.  »Such  a  moment  was  secured  by  the 
providence  which  ordained  that  John  should  live  till  the 
first  heresies  had  shaped  themselves.     The   disciple  who 


LeCT.  n.  _  THE    GOSPELS.  69 

first  came  to  Jesus,  who  followed  him  most  closel}^,  who  lay 
in  his  bosom,  who  stood  by  his  cross,  who  believed  when 
others  were  confounded,  who  saw  with  more  penetrating  eye 
the  glory  which  they  all  beheld,  was  reserved  to  complete 
the  written  statement  of  the  person  of  Christ,  in  a  record 
which  has  been  designated  from  ancient  days  as  ''  the  Gos- 
pel according  to  the  Spirit." 

As  the  other  Gospels  respectively  make  prominent  the 
ideas  of  law,  of  power,  and  of  grace,  so  does  this  present 
the  glory  of  Christ.  "  We  beheld  his  glor}^,  the  glory  as 
of  the  Only-begotten  of  the  Father."^  All  the  disciples 
beheld  it,  but  there  was  one  whose  pure,  lofty,  and  con- 
templative spirit  fitted  him  to  be  the  best  recipient,  and 
therefore  the  best  exponent,  of  the  sublime  disclosure.  To 
him,  therefore,  the  office  was  assigned,  and  his  Gospel  is  its 
fulfilment.  He  begins,  not  like  his  predecessors  from  an 
earthly  starting-point,  from  the  birth  of  the  son  of  Adam 
or  the  son  of  Abraham,  or  the  opening  of  the  human  minis- 
tr}^,  but  in  the  depths  of  unmeasured  eternity  and  the  re- 
cesses of  the  nature  of  God  ;  and  then,  bringing  the  First- 
begotten  into  the  world,  traces  with  adoring  eye  the  course 
of  word  and  deed  by  which  he  manifested  forth  his  glory, 
and  at  last  delivers  his  record  to  others,  "  that  they  may 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  believing 
they  may  have  life  through  his  name."  ^ 

We  have  now  seen  that  in  the  three  S3moptic  Gospels  the 
representation  of  Christ,  as  he  lived  and  conversed  amongst 
men,  is  carried  on  by  three  successive  stages,  from  its  first 
Jewish  aspect  and  fundamental  connection  with  the  old 
covenant  to  its  most  catholic  character  and  adaptation  to 

1  John  i.  14.  2  Ibid.  XX.  31. 


70  THE   PEOGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  II. 

the  Gentile  mind  ;  and  that  these  steps  coiTespond  to  and 
are  connected  with  the  historical  stages  of  advance,  by 
which  the  Word  of  Cod  passed  from  its  first  home  to  its 
destined  sphere  of  influence.  We  have  seen  that  in  the 
fourth  Gospel  we  rise  to  a  more  distinct  apprehension  of 
the  spiritual  mystery  involved  in  the  picture  which  has  been 
presented  ;  and,  further,  that  this  advance  also  is  connected 
with  historical  conditions,  subsequent  in  time  to  those  un- 
der which  the  preceding  books  originated.  The  course  of 
teaching  thus  produced  is  according  to  that  principle  which 
places  the  earthly  things  as  the  introduction  to  the  heavenly, 
and  keeps  everything  in  "its  own  order,  first  that  which  is 
natural,  and  afterwards  that  which  is  spiritual." 

And  yet  these  stages  of  progress  are  constituted  only  by 
difierences  of  degree.  There  is  nothing  expanded  in  one 
book  which  has  not  been  asserted  in  another.  Take  what- 
ever may  seem  to  j'ou  the  distinguishing  idea  of  any  one  of 
them,  and  3^ou  find  a  strong  expression  of  it  in  all  the  oth- 
ers. The  Judaism  of  St.  Matthew  reaches  out  to  the  call- 
ing of  the  Gentiles  ;  and  the  catholic  spirit  of  St.  Luke  falls 
back  upon  his  Jewish  origin.  St.  John,  in  exhibiting  the 
divine  nature  of  Christ,  exhibits  only  what  the  others  have 
everywhere  implied  and  frequently  affirmed.  "  The  Johan- 
nean  conception  of  Christ,"  as  it  has  been  termed  by  some, 
who  would  place  it  in  opposition  to  preceding  representa- 
tions, is  in  fact  their  explication  and  confirmation.  In  the 
former  Gospels  w^e  behold  the  Son  of  God,  proclaimed  by 
angels,  confessed  by  devils,  acknowledged  by  the  voice  of 
the  Father;  with  authority  and  power  commanding  the 
visible  and  invisible  worlds,  and  at  the  central  moment  of 
the  history  transfigured  on  the  holy  mount  before  the  eye- 
witnesses of  his  majesty.      The  first  word  in  the  Temple 


LecT.  n.  THE   GOSPELS.  71 

declares  to  Ms  earthly  parent  his  conscious  relation  to  his 
Father  ;  the  last  charge  to  the  Apostles  founds  the  Church 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
while,  in  the  intervening  period,  some  voice  of  self-revela- 
tion more  deep  than  usual  is  from  time  to  time  suffered  to 
fall  upon  our.  ears  ;  like  that  which  so  many  commentators 
have  noticed  as  a  kind  of  anticipation  of  the  language  of 
St.  John,  "  All  things  are  delivered  to  me  of  my  Father ; 
and  no  man  knoweth  who  the  Son  is  but  the  Father,  nei- 
ther knoweth  any  man  the  Father  save  the  Son,  and  he  to 
whomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal  him."  ^ 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  in  the  record  of  St.  John  that  we 
read  words  which,  if  found  in  another  Gospel,  would  have 
been  eagerly  urged  as  antagonistic  to  "the  Johannean  con- 
ception." "We  can  imagine  what  use  would  then  have  been 
made  of  the  argument  (John  x.  34-36)  founded  on  the  text, 
"  I  have  said  ye  are  gods,"  or  of  the  assertions,  "  The 
words  which  3^e  hear  are  not  mine,"  and  "  The  Father  is 
greater  than  I."  Now,  standing  in  connection  with  the 
claim  to  the  incommunicable  Name,  and  with  the  state- 
ments, "  All  things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine,"  and  "  I 
and  the  Father  are  one,"  that  argument  and  those  assertions 
cannot  be  mistaken  ;  but  they  serve  to  confirm  the  unity  of 
that  revelation  of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  of  which  one 
aspect  is  more  fully  exhibited  in  one  part,  and  the  other 
aspect  in  the  other  part  of  the  Evangelical  record. ^^^ 

Asserting  then  the  peculiar  development  which  the  last 
Gospel  gives  to  the  doctrine  of  the  person  of  Christ,  we 
also  assert  that  there  is  no  variation  from  the  original  con- 
ception.    The  exposition  is  continuous  ;  the  picture  is  one. 

1  Matt.  xi.  27,  and  Luke  x.  22. 


72  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRIXE.  LeCT.  II. 

From  the  beginning  of  St.  Matthew  to  the  end  of  St.  John 
it  is  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  really  the  Son  of  Man  in 
the  last  Gospel  as  in  the  first,  as  really  the  Son  of  God 
in  the  first  Gospel  as  in  the  last.  Only  we  find,  in  passing 
under  the  teaching  of  St.  John,  that  here  the  great  mystery 
shows  more  vivid  and  mature  ;  that  the  intuitions  of  it  have 
become  more  conscious  and  clear,  and  the  assertions  of  it 
more  definite  and  indisputable  ;  that  we  have  advanced  from 
the  simple  observation  of  facts  to  the  state  of  retrospection 
and  reflection,  and  that  we  have  attained  to  the  formation 
of  a  language  fitted  to  the  highest  conceptions  of  him  who 
is  the  Only-begotten  of  the  Father,  the  Life,  and  the  Light, 
and  the  Truth,  and  the  Word  Eternal. 

Such  is  the  character  of  the  Gospel  collection,  regarded 
as  an  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  the  person  of  Christ. 
As  a  scheme  characterized  b}'  unity  and  progi'ess  it  has 
obviousl}^  the  appearance  of  design  :  and  the  appearance  of 
design  is  an  argument  for  its  realit}". 

But  icliose  design  is  this,  which  appears  not  in  the  sepa- 
rate books,  but  in  the  collection  taken  as  a  whole  ?  The 
agents  were  severed  from  each  other,  and  wrote  as  their 
respective  turns  of  mind  and  historical  circumstances  deter- 
mined. Where  then  was  the  presiding  mind  which  planned 
the  whole,  and,  in  qualif3'ing  and  emploj^ing  the  chosen 
agents,  divided  to  every  man  severally  as  he  would  ?  By 
the  voice  of  the  Church  as  a  bod}',  by  the  ever-accumulating 
consent  of  her  several  members,  an  unchanging  answer 
comes  down  from  age  to  age.  The  Spiint  of  the  Lord  is 
here. 

Yes  !  the  Spirit  was  to  testify  of 'Jesus,  and  the  fourfold 
Gospel  is  his  permanent  testimony.  In  it  he  has  provided 
that  the  foundations  of  our  faith  should  be  laid  in  the  region 


LeCT.  n.  THE    GOSPELS.  73 

where  the  foundations  of  all  human  knowledge  lie,  namely, 
in  the  evidence  of  the  senses,  in  that  which  "  eyes  have 
seen,  ears  have  heard,  and  hands  have  handled  of  the  Word 
of  Life."  He  has  provided  that  the  object  of  our  faith 
should  be  known  to  us  as  he  was  known  to  those  who  saw 
him,  that  he  should  be  clearly  known  b}^  the  simplicity, 
fully  known  by  the  variety,  and  certainly  known  by  the 
unity,  of  the  narratives  which  give  to  the  world  the  per- 
petual and  gnly  representation  of  its  Redeemer.  Finally, 
he  has  provided  that  the  representation  should  be  com- 
pleted by  a  progressive  course  of  teaching,  which  first  fa- 
miliarizes us  with  the  conversation  of  our  Lord  among  men 
in  its  general  and  ordinary  aspect,  and  then  admits  us  to 
the  more  concentrated  study  of  the  glor}^  and  the  mystery, 
which  had  already  made  themselves  felt  at  every  step. 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  the  divine  teaching  thus  given, 
even  when  viewed  separately,  has  the  appearance  of  being 
not  a  whole  scheme  ending  in  itself,  but  a  part  of  a  larger 
scheme.  I  mean  that  the  general  effect  of  the  manifestation 
which  is  made  in  the  Gospels  is  such  as  almost  necessitates 
farther  disclosures. 

One  shining  with  the  glor}^  of  the  Onlj'-begotten  of  the 
Father,  but  clothed  in  the  poverties  and  infirmities  of  man, 
has  walked  before  us  in  power  and  weakness,  in  majesty 
and  woe.  He  has  come  close  to  us,  and  drawn  us  close  to 
him ;  has  touched  every  chord  of  our  hearts  :  has  secured 
our  implicit  trust,  and  become  the  object  of  adoration  and 
love  :  then  he  has  hung  upon  a  cross,  has  sunk  into  a  grave, 
has  risen,  has  ascended,  and  is  gone.  It  was  a  brief  dispen- 
sation, and  is  finished  once  for  all.  What  did  it  mean? 
What  has  it  done  ?  What  are  our  relations  with  him  now  ? 
and  in  what  way  has  this  brief  appearance  afiected  our 


74  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  II. 

position  before  God  and  the  state  and  destiny  of  the  soul  ? 
What  is  the  nature  of  the  redemption  which  he  has  wrought, 
of  the  salvation  which  he  has  brought,  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  which  he  has  opened  to  all  believers  ? 

These  were  questions  left  for  the  Disciples  when  Jesus 
was  gone  ;  and,  when  the  reader  of  the  Gospel  story  reaches 
its  close,  these  questions  remain  for  him.  The  Disciples 
would  recall  what  their  Master  had  spoken,  in  order  to 
gather  the  whole  result  Of  the  words  of  his  lips.  The  reader 
also  will  review  that  personal  teaching  of  Christ  which  is 
interwoven  with  his  visible  manifestation,  and  will  ask 
whether  it  gives  an  answer  to  the  questions  which  the  mani- 
festation suggests  ;  whether  it  does  so  fully  or  partially,  as 
a  final  communication,  or  as  the  commencement  of  informa- 
tion to  be  completed  afterwards.  This  is  the  subject  which 
will  next  claim  our  attention,  as  the  first  step  in  the  inquir}^, 
how  the  Christian  doctrine  was  added  to  the  Christian  facts 
— the  dtvine  interpretation  to  the  divine  intervention. 

The  relations  between  these  two  parts  of  the  Gospel  have 
now  in  some  measure  come  into  view.  We  have  seen  that 
the  evangelical  narrative  creates  the  want  and  gives  the 
pledge  of  an  evangelical  doctrine  ;  that  it  also  deposits  its 
material  and  provides  its  safeguard. 

a.  The  narrative  creates  the  tuant^  in  that  it  leaves  the 
mind  of  the  reader  in  a  state  of  desire  and  expectation, 
since  the  stupendous  facts  which  it  recites  cannot  but  sug- 
gest anxious  inquiries  which  wait  for  clear  replies,  and  vast 
speculations  which  demand  a  firm  direction. 

b.  And  this  want  seems  to  carry  with  it  the  pledge  that 
it  is  raised  in  order  to  be  satisfied.  We  feel  sure  that  God 
has  not  given  us  the  external  manifestation  of  his  Son, 
and  then  left  the  questions  which  arise  out  of  it  unanswered 


LeCT.  II.  THE   GOSPELS.  75 

and  the  hopes  which  it  suggests  undefined.  In  the  fulness 
and  vividness  of  the  record  of  the  facts  we  find  an  implied 
assurance,  that  their  -purposes  and  results  shall  also  be 
made  clear,  and  receive  in  their  proper  place  their  own 
proper  exposition. 

c.  Again,  the  history  deposits  the  material  of  the  doc- 
trine ;  for  that  material  is  nothing  else  than  Chi-ist  manifest 
in  the  flesh  —  his  incarnation,  his  obedience,  his  holiness, 
love,  grace,  and  truth,  his  death  and  passion,  his  resurrec- 
tion and  ascension,  and  then,  beyond  these,  his  glorified 
life,  and  his  coming  and  his  kingdom,  in  which  the  past 
history  finds  its  necessary  and  predicted  issues.  These, 
brethren,  are  the  topics  of  the  evangelical  teaching,  and 
the  constituent  elements  of  the  truth,  seeing  that  in  this 
manifestation  of  the  Son  of  God  all  that  men  had  known 
before  has  received  its  full  illustration  and  its  final  seal, 
and  that  which  thej^  had  not  known  has  been  once  for  all 
revealed.  All  that  is  to  be  learned  is  comprised  within 
this  circle.  The  deep  mine  of  truth  lies  beneath  this  spot. 
"  In  him  (as  the  mystery  of  God)  are  hid  all  the  treasures 
of  wisdom  and  knowledge."  ^ 

d.  Lastly,  the  narrative  provides  the  safeguard  of  the 
doctrine.  Before  we  arrive  at  the  latter  form  of  teaching, 
we  have  been  secured  against  its  possible  dangers,  having 
been  alread}''  taught  in  the  most  effective  way  to  feel  that 
our  trust  is  not  in  a  name  which  we  learn,  but  in  a  person 
whom  we  know ;  not  in  a  scheme  of  salvation,  but  in  a 
living  Saviour.  I  cannot  say  how  strongly  I  feel  the  value 
of  the  Gospel  narrative  in  this  last  point  of  view ;  and  I 
feel  it  most  when  I  observe  the  effect  of  other  methods, 

iCol.  ii.  3. 


76  THE  PROGEESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  II. 

which  have  trained  the  minds  of  disciples  mainly  by 
schemes  of  doctrine  without  the  admixture  in  its  due 
proportion  of  the  ever  fresh  and  healthful  element  of  his- 
tory. Blessed  be  the  wisdom  of  God,  which  has  ordered 
the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  upon  its  actual  plan, 
laying  first  the  living  knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  the 
broadest  and  safest  basis  for  doctrine  and  instruction  in 
righteousness.  The  order  thus  observed  in  the  written 
word  teaches  how  the  knowledge  of  Christ  will  best  be 
opened  out  to  every  single  soul.  He  onlj^  is  duly  prepared 
for  more  abstract  revelations  of  the  nature  of  the  redeeming 
work  and  of  its  present  and  future  issues,  in  whose  heart 
the  past  manifestation  in  the  flesh  is  clearly  reflected,  and 
who  thus  has  worthily  received  into  his  own  soul  "the 
beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God." 


LECTUKE    III. 

THE    GOSPELS. 

HOW  SHALL,  WE    ESCAPE,  IF  WE    NEGLECT    SO    GREAT    SALVATION,  WHICH 
AT  THE   FIRST  BEGAN    TO  BE   SPOKEN   BY   THE  LORD?  —  Heb.  U.  3. 

From  age  to  age  this  question  has  fulfilled  its  office. 
Men,  trusting  in  their  immunity  from  criminal  acts,  have 
found  themselves  confronted  b}'-  an  accusation  which  they 
could  not  answer,  and  convicted  of  guilt  of  which  they  had 
never  thought.  Still  may  this  question  reach  one  heart 
after  another  amongst  ourselves,  and  flash  the  sense  of  sin 
and  ruin  on  those  who  even  now,  and  even  here,  are  practi- 
cally neglecting  so  great  salvation  ! 

Not,  however,  on  this  question,  but  on  the  following 
words,  have  I  now  to  fix  your  attention  ;  words  which  are 
added  to  aggravate  the  sin  of  that  neglect,  and  to  illustrate 
the  certainty  of  a  corresponding  retribution  ;  but  which  do 
so  by  the  mention  of  a  fact  which  falls  into  our  present 
line  of  thought  at  the  point  which  we  have  now  reached. 
This  "  so  great  salvation  began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord, 
and  was  confirmed  unto  us  by  them  that  heard  him  ;  God 
also  bearing  them  witness  by  signs  and  wonders,  and  gifts 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  according  to  his  own  will." 

It  began  to  be  spoken  hy  the  Lord.  The  word  of  the  old 
covenant  is  repeatedly  declared  to  have  been  "  received  by 
the  disposition  of  angels"^ — "ordained  by  angels "^ — 
"spoken  by  angels."^    The  ministering  spirits,  the  mes- 

1  Acts  vil.  53.  2 Gal.  iii.  19.  ^Heb.  ii.  2. 

77 


78  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRrNTE.  LeCT.  III. 

sengers  and  servants  of  the  Lord,  were  employed  to  intro- 
duce thfi  preparatory  system.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
salvation  of  the  new  covenant  is  introduced,  not  by  the 
servants,  but  by  the  Lord  in  person.  His  introduction  of 
it  was  not  confined  to  providing  its  conditions  and  founda- 
tions, by  the  manifestation  of  himself,  and  by  the  redemp- 
tion vf  hich  he  wrought.  He  was  the  messenger  and  teacher 
of  this  salvation,  as  well  as  its  author  and  giver.  It  was 
fully  wrought  by  the  Lord  ;  but,  besides  that,  it  began  to 
be  "  spolven"  by  the  Lord,  its  announcement  coming  first 
from  his  own  lips.  Yet  this  personal  speaking  was  only  a 
certain  stage  in  the  course  of  its  publication.  "  It  began 
to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord,"  ^  and  when  he  ceased  to  speak 
the  word  was  not  yet  completed.  It  was  to  be  cleared  and 
assured  to  the  world  by  those  that  heard  him  ;  who,  having 
been  educated  and  commissioned  by  him  for  the  purpose, 
proceeded  to  preach  the  Gospel  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent 
down  from  heaven,  and  with  adequate  proofs  of  the  co- 
attestation  of  God. 

This  account  of  the  personal  ministry  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
as  an  initiatory  stage  of  the  word  of  salvation,  gives  me 
the  subject  of  which  I  have  now  to  treat.  Evidently  it  is 
one  of  the  very  highest  importance  in  its  bearings  on  the 
subsequent  stages  of  doctrine  ;  on  which  we  shall  enter  in 
a  very  difierent  spirit,  if  we  consider  the  word  spoken  by 
the  Lord  in  person  as  a  finished  word,  or  if  we  regard  it  as 
a  word  begun. 

As  steps  which  may  be  of  use  towards  attaining  a  true 
view  of  the  case,  I  would  lay  down  the  following  propo- 
sitions. 

1  'A.p)(rfv  \apov<Ta  \aAet<rSai  5ta  tow  Kvpiov. 


Lect.  m.  THE   GOSPELS.  79 

First,  The  teaching  of  the  Lord  in  the  Gospels  includes 
the  substance  of  all  cliristian  doctrine^  hut  does  not  hear  the 
character  of  finality.  Secondly,  The  teaching  of  the  Lord 
in  the  Gospels  is  a  visibly  progressive  course^  hut  on  reach- 
ing its  highest  point  announces  its  oivn  incompleteness,  and 
opens  another  stage  of  instruction. 

I.  1.  The  teaching  of  the  Lord  in  the  Gospels  includes 
the  suhstance  of  all  christian  doctrine.  Never  was  teaching 
more  natural  than  his.  It  was  drawn  forth  by  occasions  as 
they  arose.  It  shaped  itself  to  the  character,  the  words, 
and  the  acts  of  those  whom  he  met  in  the  highway  of  the 
world.  It  borrowed  its  imagery  from  the  circumstances 
and  scenery  of  the  moment.  Such  teaching  as  this  would 
not  seem  likely  to  embrace  the  whole  circle  of  truth.  We 
should  expect  to  find  it  partial  and  fragmentary ;  full  in 
some  points,  deficient  in  others,  according  as  the  occasions 
for  evoking  it  had  or  had  not  arisen. 

Yet  surely  the  whole  course  of  the  manifestation  of  the 
Son  of  God  would  be  governed  not  by  accident,  but  by  a 
special  divine  predestination :  and  there  must  have  been  a 
providential  appointment  of  the  fittest  occasions  and  the 
most  perfect  conditions,  in  order  that  he  who  came  from 
God  to  speak  the  words  of  God  might  adequately  accom- 
plish his  mission.  Then  the  general  state  of  the  religious 
atmosphere  at  the  time  of  his  appearing,  the  strongly  dis- 
criminated developments  of  opinion  in  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees,  the  condition  of  individuals  who  came  across 
his  path,  the  scenes  and  cix'cumstances  in  which  he  met 
them,  were  all  prepared  by  divine  governance,  to  further 
the  eflfectual  fulfilment  of  his  mission  as  the  teacher  of  men. 
Thus  it  came  to  pass,  that  not  only  in  set  discourses  (which 
seldom  occur),  but  in  transient  conversations  and  sudden 


80  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  III. 

replies,  in  words  drawn  forth  by  the  appeals  of  the 
wretched,  by  the  temptations  of  enemies  or  by  the  errors 
of  disciples,  in  strong  denunciations  of  the  wicked  or  in 
tender  consolations  of  the  weak,  the  mind  of  Christ  has 
been  expressed  on  all  points,  and  the  store  of  divine  sen- 
tences is  full. 

Shall  I  enter  into  detail,  and  begin  to  show  how  the 
whole  argument  on  justification  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  is  involved  in  the  assertion,  that  "  the  Son  of 
Man  was  lifted  up,  that  he  that  believeth  on  him  should 
not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life"?^  —  how  the  exposi- 
tion of  the  Christian  standing  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians  is  comprehended  in  the  words,  "  The  servant  abideth 
not  in  the  house  forever,  but  the  son  abideth  ever.  If  the 
son  make  you  free  ye  shall  be  free  indeed"?^  —  how  the 
sacrificial  doctrine  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  Implied 
in  all  its  parts  by  the  words,  "  This  is  my  blood  of  the  new 
covenant,  which  is  shed  for  you  and  for  many  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins"?^  Though  such  proof  in  detail  is  here 
impossible,  it  would  yet  be  easy  to  show  that  every  doctrine 
expanded  in  the  Epistles  roots  itself  in  some  pregnant  say- 
ing in  the  Gospels ;  and  that  the  first  intimation  of  every 
truth,  revealed  to  the  holy  Apostles  by  the  Spirit,  came 
first  from  the  lips  of  the  Son  of  Man.  In  each  case  the 
later  revelation  may  enlarge  the  earlier,  may  show  its 
meaning  and  define  its  application,  but  the  earlier  revela- 
tion stands  behind  it  still,  and  we  owe  our  first  knowledge 
of  every  part  of  the  new  covenant  to  those  personal  com- 
munications in  which  the  salvation  began  to  be  spoken  by 
the  Lord. 

1  John  iii.  14,  15.  ^John  viii.  35,  36.         SMatt.  xxvi.  28. 


LeCT.  III.  THE    GOSPELS.  81 

"  In  all  things  he  was  to  have  the  pre-eminence,"  ^  in 
speaking  as  well  as  in  acting,  not  onl}^  as  the  Life,  but 
also  as  the  Light  of  men.  The  more  we  study  the  records 
of  that  short  ministry  in  the  flesh,  the  more  we  are  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  all  the  past  and  all  the  future 
are  gathered  up  in  it.  Past  inspired  teaching  here  finds 
its  meaning  interpreted  and  its  authority  sealed,  whilst  (so 
to  speak)  the  several  chapters  of  future  inspired  teaching 
are  opened  by  pregnant  summaries  and  certified  b}^  antici- 
patory sanctions.  That  is  indeed  a  time  "  of  large  dis- 
course, looking  before  and  after,"  and  the  words  of 
Prophets  on  the  one  side,  and  of  Apostles  on  the  other,  are 
forever  justified  and  maintained  by  the  words  of  him  who 
came  between  them. 

There  was  nothing  then  on  the  lips  of  the  preachers  of 
the  Gospel,  but  what  had  been  "  begun  to  be  spoken  "  by 
its  first  preacher ;  and  in  following  to  their  utmost  the 
words  of  the  Apostles  we  are  still  within  the  compass  of 
the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

2.  Yet  those  words  do  not  bear  the  character  of  finality. 
The  doctrine  delivered  in  the  Gospels  appears  to  need, 
and  to  promise,  further  explanations,  combinations,  and 
developments.  The  character  of  that  ministry  on  the 
whole  is  introductory.  It  is  so  in  its  fonn^  in  its  method^ 
and  in  its  substance. 

a.  Our  Lord's  general  teaching,  in  regard  to  its  form^  is 
cast  in  the  mould  of  parable  or  proverb.  So  it  appears 
more  especially  in  the  first  three  Gospels  as  compared  with 
the  fourth :  and  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  the  former 
represent  the  ordinary  course  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  ;  and 

1  Iv  napLV  avTo?  trpwrevuf . 


82  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  III. 

that  the  latter  purposely  collects  into  one  view  those 
stronger  assertions  of  divine  mysteries,  which  were  made 
on  particular  occasions,  and  which,  when  thus  combined, 
form  for  us  a  more  advanced  stage  of  revelation.  Yet  in 
St.  John  also  the  characteristic  form  of  parable  continues, 
though  its  visible  diminution  corresponds  with  the  in- 
creased intensity  of  revealing  light. 

There  can  be  no  need  to  exhibit  the  fact  of  this  prevail- 
ing character  of  our  Lord's  discourse.  It  is  to  be  noticed, 
not  only  in  the  large  amount  of  professed  parables,  but  in 
the  general  habit  of  proverbial  sayings,  that  is,  sayings 
which  glance  by  us,  as  condensed  and  momentary  parables, 
suggesting  much  that  it  would  take  long  to  tell,  or,  at 
least,  sayings  which  have  more  or  less  the  shape  and  air  of 
proverbs,  complete  in  themselves,  terse  and  pointed, 
fashioned  for  common  memor}^  and  common  use,  meaning 
more  than  they  say,  and,  bj'  strong  antithesis  or  seeming 
paradox,  fitted  to  arouse  reflection,  and  to  fix  on  the  mind 
some  i^rinciple  of  thought  or  conduct.  This  characteristic 
of  our  Lord's  teaching  does  not  exist  in  that  of  his  ser- 
vants. It  is  peculiar  and  distinctive ;  and  not  without 
reason,  for  it  falls  in  with  that  character  of  germinating 
fulness  which  has  been  already  ascribed  to  the  personal 
ministry  of  Christ ;  and  not  less  plainly  with  that  character 
of  initiation  which  is  now  to  be  asserted. 

It  is  of  the  essence  of  proverbial  speech  that  it  detaches 
itself  from  particular  occasions,  that  it  has  a  capacity  for 
various  applications,  and  a  fitness  for  permanent  use,  and 
embraces  large  meaning  within  narrow  limits.  It  therefore 
fitted  well  the  lips  which  were  to  utter  the  great  principles 
of  Christian  thought,  and  to  leave  them  amongst  men  for 
all  times  and  occasions.     Yet  this  form  of  teaching  belongs 


LeCT.   III.  THE    GOSPELS.  83 

to  the  introduction  of  knowledge.  It  seems  intended  to  set 
the  mind  working,  and  to  rouse  the  spirit  of  inquiry  by 
partial  or  disguised  discoveries  of  truth.  "To  them  that 
are  without,"  said  our  Lord,  "  all  these  things  are  done  in 
parables  ;  "  ^  intimating  that  the  use  of  that  form  of  instruc- 
tion is  appropriate  to  the  preliminar}^  and  probationary 
stage.  In  its  fullest  degree  it  belongs  originall}^  to  those 
that  are  without,  though,  by  means  of  light  afterwards 
afforded,  it  continues  to  minister  large  instruction  to 
those  that  are  within.  To  the  multitude  our  Lord's 
teaching  was  mainlj^  of  this  character :  to  his  disciples  it 
was  obviousl}'  less  so.  To  them  "  it  was  given  to  know 
the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  to  others  in  par- 
ables.*' ^  Yet  to  them  also,  through  all  their  time  of  train- 
ing, we  see  that  this  mode  of  speech  is  largely  used,  and 
when  the  personal  intercourse  is  about  to  close  they 
receive  the  assurance  that  the  teaching  of  the  future 
will  herein  differ  from  that  of  the  past :  "  These  things 
have  I  spoken  unto  you  in  proverbs,  but  the  time  cometh 
when  I  shall  no  more  speak  unto  3'ou  in  proverbs,  but  I 
shall  show  j^ou  plainly  of  the  Father."  ^  The  words  remain 
as  a  sufficient  testimony  that  the  peculiar  character  of 
language,  in  which  the  salvation  began  to  be  spoken  by 
the  Lord,  is  a  mark  of  an  introductory  stage,  and,  so  far  as 
it  prevails,  is  both  a  sign  that  the  time  for  showing  plainly 
is  not  3'et  come,  and  a  pledge  that  it  is  to  follow. 

b.  As  the  form  of  the  teaching  leads  to  this  conclusion, 
so  also  does  its  method.     It  is  seemingly  to  a  great  degree 


1  Mark  iv.  11.  tKilvots  roTj  l^o — yet  certainly  not  to  keep  them 
without,  but  as  the  appropriate  means  to  draw  them  within. 
2  Luke  viii.  10.  ^  john  xvi.  25. 


84  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  III. 

a  method  of  chances  and  occasions ;  carried  on  by  words 
suited  to  the  moment,  by  separate  addresses,  or  replies  to 
particular  persons,  and  by  explanations  added  to  particu- 
lar acts.  It  is  moreover  in  these  communications,  rather 
than  in  the  deliberate  discourses,  that  the  higher  revelations 
of  his  Gospel  are  for  the  most  part  contained.  When  "  he 
opened  his  mouth  and  taught "  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
he  delivered  to  those  who  were  entering  his  kingdom  the 
great  principles  of  moral  righteousness.  But  it  is  from  words 
dropped  as  it  were  in  a  private  conversation  b^^  uight,  or  in 
collision  with  the  provocations  of  unbelievers,  or  amid  sighs 
and  sorrows  by  the  grave  of  a  friend,  that  we  derive  our 
plainest  assurances  of  the  mysteries  of  his  salvation.  "While 
we  gather  up  the  precious  things  of  his  ordinar}^  discourses, 
we  are  made  sensible  that  other  truths  are  implied,  deeper 
than  those  which  are  announced,  and  from  time  to  time  the 
words  which  assert  those  deeper  truths  break  with  a  kind  of 
suddenness  on  our  ears.  It  would  hardly  appear  likely  that 
such  a  mode  of  teaching  was  intended  to  be  final ;  rather  we 
should  expect  it  to  prove  (as  in  fact  it  did)  the  prefatory 
announcement  of  a  coming  system  of  truth,  in  which  the 
several  saj'ings  would  discover  their  cohesion  and  the  con- 
densed assertions  would  expand  into  their  fulness. 

c.  If  the  form  and  method  of  the  personal  teaching  of 
Jesus  suggest  the  conclusion,  that  it  was  meant  to  be,  not 
the  whole  of  his  teaching  to  men,  but  only  the  initiatory 
stage  of  it,  that  conclusion  becomes  more  sure  when  we 
come  to  consider  the  substance  of  the  doctrine  itself. 

The  doctrine  bears  a  double  character.  It  is,  first,  the 
clearing,  restoring,  and  perfecting  of  truth  already  known  ; 
and  it  is,  secondly,  the  revealing  of  a  mj^sterious  economy 
which  had  not  yet  been  divulged.     It  is,  I  suppose,  obvious 


Lect.  in.  THE   GOSPELS.  85 

to  eveiy  reader  of  the  Gospels,  that  the  doctrine  cgntained 
in  them  is  much  more  full  and  explicit  in  the  first  of  these 
characters  than  it  is  in  the  second  ;  that  all  which  belongs 
to  human  dut}'^  and  character  comes  out  habitually  to  view 
in  the  clearest  light,  while  the  discoveries  of  that  secret 
scheme  of  things,  by  which  the  divine  j)urposes  are  worked 
out,  are  either  made  by  implication,  or  are  marked  b}''  a  cer- 
tain brevity  and  reserve.  This  fact  is  generall}^  recognized, 
and  especially  by  those  minds  which  shrink  from  the  more 
mysterious  parts  of  revelation.  These  fall  back  upon  the 
Lord's  own  teaching  in  the  Gospels,  as  containing  more  to 
which  they  can  cordiall}''  assent,  or  at  least  less  which  trou- 
bles and  perplexes  them,  than  they  find  in  the  writings  of 
his  followers.  All  that  troubles  and  perplexes  them  is  in- 
deed there ;  but  the  restricted  measure  of  its  exposition 
allows  them  more  easil}'  to  ignore  its  presence.  Such  men 
fly  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  linger  over  parables 
and  discourses,  which  instruct  us  in  the  great  original  truths 
of  the  fatherhood  of  God,  of  heartfelt  praj^er,  of  love  and 
forgiveness,  of  lowliness  and  truth,  of  obedience  and  self- 
sacrifice,  of  confidence  in  pardoning  mercy,  and  of  faith 
(yet  only  general  and  preliminary)  in  him  whom  God  hath 
sent. 

It  is  indeed  true  that  in  passing  through  the  synoptic 
Gospels  we  meet  with  few  express  and  definite  assertions 
of  the  real  nature  and  effects  of  the  mediatorial  work  of 
Christ ;  and  if  we  drop  out  of  notice  those  few  strong 
s  ayings,  andare  content  to  take  the  lowest  meaning  of 
every  expression  that  sounds  ambiguous,  and  are  resolutely 
insensible  to  the  suggestion  of  typical  miracles  and  to  the 
implications  contained  in  the  whole  history,  we  may  per- 
haps arrive  at  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  with  no  higher  con- 


8Q  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  III. 

Victions  than  were  expressed  by  the  inquirer,  whom  we 
there  find  uttering  the  dubious  acknowledgment,  "Master, 
we  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God."  ^ 

But  having  acknowledged  this  much,  we  must  from  this 
point  acknowledge  much  more.  We  find  that  the  Gospel 
on  which  we  have  entered  has  collected  for  us  the  scattered 
sayings,  in  which,  from  time  to  time,  our  Lord  asserted  his 
highest  offices,  and  opened  the  mystery  of  his  wox'k.  One 
after  another  the  great  testimonies  concerning  himself  fall 
on  our  ears :  j^et,  in  regard  to  every  one  of  them,  we  are 
made  to  feel  that  the  intimations  given  are  at  the  time 
beyond  the  apprehensions  of  the  hearers,  and  this  not  only 
on  account  of  the  dulness  of  the  particular  persons,  but 
because  the  testimonies  imply  events  which  have  not  yet 
happened,  and  are  fragments  of  a  revelation  for  which  the 
hour  is  not  yet  come.  Glance  through  a  few  of  these  say- 
ings :  The  heavens  open,  and  the  angels  ascending  and 
descending  on  the  Son  of  Man  ;  ^  the  Temple  destroj^ed  and 
raised  up  again  in  three  da^'s  ;  ^  the  birth  of  water  and  the 
Spirit ;  ^  the  Son  of  Man  who  came  from  heaven,  who  goes 
to  heaven,  and  who  is  in  heaven  ;  ^  the  lifting  up  like  the 
serpent  in  the  wilderness,  that  men  may  not  perish ;  ®  the 
water  which  he  will  give,  springing  up  into  everlasting 
life ;  ^  the  eating  the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  as  the 
means  of  everlasting  life  and  of  being  raised  up  at  the  last 
day.  ®  These  sayings,  and  many  others  like  them,  are  ut- 
tered to  hearers  whose  perplexity  is  made  apparent,  and  are 

1  oTi  anb  GfoD  iX/jXvOas  6i6d(TKaXos. 

2  John  i.  51.  3  Ibid.  ii.  19.  ■*  Ibid.  iii.  5. 

«  Ibid.  iii.  13.  «  Ibid.  iii.  14.  7  ibid.  iv.  14. 

8  Ibid.  vi.  64. 


LeCT.  III.  THE    GOSPELS.  87 

at  the  time  left  unexplained,  to  await  the  light  which  they 
are  to  receive  from  future  events  and  later  discoveries.  This 
(if  I  may  so  call  it)  anticipatory  character  of  our  Lord's 
teaching,  with  regard  to  the  work  which  he  came  to  fulfil, 
strikes  us  most  forcibly,  when  we  compare  his  mode  of 
speaking  on  the  subject  with  the  full  and  explicit  language 
which  becomes  familiar  to  us  in  the  writings  of  his  Apostles. 

And  if  this  account  of  one  part  of  his  teaching  be  true, 
an  evident  consequence  follows  in  regard  to  the  other  part. 
Grant  that  the  discoveries  of  the  redeeming  work  of  Christ 
are  in  any  measure  restricted  and  deferred,  and  it  follows 
that  a  large  part  of  the  teaching  on  human  duty  must  be 
restricted  and  deferred  in  proportion.  Instructions  in  faith 
in  himself  must  wait  for  their  perfecting,  until  the  things  to 
be  believed  concerning  him  have  grown  clear.  Instructions 
in  our  relations  to  God  (whether  bearing  on  the  hope  of  a 
penitent  or  on  the  confidence  of  a  child)  have  not  obtained 
their  completion  while  the  grounds  of  forgiveness  and  ac- 
ceptance are  in  any  manner  obscure.  Finally,  instructions 
on  duty  and  character  must  be  deficient  in  some  of  their 
most  important  elements,  while  the  motives  which  flow  from 
redemption  cannot  be  assumed  as  recognized,  because  Jesus 
has  not  yet  died  ;  while  the  life  in  the  Spirit,  and  the  power 
of  the  resurrection,  and  the  citizenship  in  heaven,  cannot 
be  realized,  because  Jesus  has  not  j^et  revived,  risen,  and 
ascended. 

In  illustration  of  these  assertions  I  will  instance  the  treat- 
ment of  the  two  doctrines  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  the 
success  of  prayer.  We  know  how  intimately  in  the  evangel- 
ical S3^stem  these  two  doctrines  are  associated  with  the 
personal  agency  of  our  Redeemer,  the  one  with  his  atoning 
sacrifice,  the  other  with  his  priestly  mediation.     But  it  is 


8S  THE   PEOGRESS   OF  DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  III. 

certain  that  in  his  own  teaching  on  earth  they  are  not  so 
treated.  Other  truths  concerning  them  are  brought  forward 
when  these  are  absent. 

Take  the  first  example.  ^'■Forgive,  and  ye  shall  be  for- 
given ;"  ^  "Her  sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven, /or  she 
loved  mzich;"^  "I  forgave  thee  all  that  debt  because  tliou 
desiredst  me ;'' ^  "He  smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  God 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner^''  ^  and  then  "  Avent  down  to  his 
house  justified  rather  than  the  other."  Lastly,  in  the  great 
parable  of  forgiveness  the  erring  son  simply  returns^  and  the 
father  falls  on  his  neck  and  kisses  him.  "  Father,"  says 
he,  "  I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and  before  thee,"  and 
straightw^ay  he  is  clothed  with  the  best  robe,  and  has  the 
ring  on  his  hand,  and  the  shoes  on  his  feet.  "  He  was 
dead  and  is  alive  again  :  he  was  lost,  and  is  found."  There 
is  no  mention  of  any  intercessor,  no  typical  hint  of  sacrifice 
or  other  atonement,  no  condition  anywhere  supposed,  but 
what  is  included  in  "because  thou  desiredst  me,"  or  in  the 
presence  of  penitence  and  tenderness  of  heart,  and  the  ab- 
sence of  an  unforgiving  spirit  towards  others.  Yet  at  other 
times  there  fall  from  the  Lord's  own  lips  some  few  words  at 
least  which  reveal  himself  as  the  channel,  and  his  blood  as 
the  purchase,  of  the  forgiveness  which  he  preaches  so  freely. 
"  The  Son  of  Man  has  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins  ; "  ^ 
*'  M}^  blood  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins."  ^  These 
sayings  give  a  momentary  insight  into  the  depths  of  the 
subject,  and  disclose  something  of  the  mysterious  means  by 
which  forgiveness  has  been  procured,  and  through  which, 
when  once  revealed,  it  must  be  sought.     It  is  evident  that 

1  Luke  vi.  37.         2  ibid.  vii.  47.       s  Matt,  xviii.  32. 
*  Luke  xviii.  13.     «  Matt.  ix.  6.         «  Ibid.  xxvi.  28. 


LeCT.  III.  THE   GOSPELS.  89 

such  a  revelation  cannot  remain  as  a  mere  associated  idea, 
that  it  must  become  fundamental,  and  give  a  peculiar  and 
distinctive  character  to  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  for- 
giveness of  sins.  But  we  see  that  it  is  not  wrought  out  in 
the  Gospels.  Must  we  not  then  expect  that  this  will  yet 
be  done?  and  that, in  some  future  stage  of  divine  teaching, 
wc  shall  find  the  word  "Forgive  and  ye  shall  be  forgiven" 
elevated  and  opened  into  "  Forgiving  one  another  as  God 
for  Chrisfs  sake  hath  forgiven  you,"  ^  and  the  hope  of  for- 
giveness placed  forever  on  its  true  basis  of  faith  in  him, 
"  in  whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood,  even  the 
forgiveness  of  sins."  ^ 

Again,  take  the  doctrine  of  acceptance  and  success  in 
prayer.  How  earnest  and  how  strong  are  our  Lord'e  dec- 
larations on  this  subject !  It  is  needless  io  rehearse  them, 
but  these  precious  assurances  are  here  connected  only  with 
the  earnestness,  importunit}^,  and  simplicity  of  the  worship- 
pers, and  with  a  general  faith  in  the  Father's  will  to  give 
good  things  to  those  that  ask  him.  We  might  be  ready  to 
say,  "The  whole  instruction  amounts  to  this,  —  Dismiss 
all  heathen  and  all  Pharisaic  notions  on  this  subject.  Go 
simply  to  God  as  your  Father.  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive." 
Yet  he  who  has  taught  us,  before  he  ceases  to  speak,  adds 
something  more.  At  the  highest  point  of  his  teaching  we 
hear  him  say,  "No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by 
me;^  "  If  ye  shall  ask  anything  in  my  name  /will  do  it."  * 
Here  is  an  immense  accession  of  revelation,  which,  when 
fully  comprehended,  must  give  its  character  to  the  whole 
Christian   doctrine   and   to  the  whole  Christian  habit  of 

1  Eph.  iv.  32.  2  Ibid.  i.  7. 

8  John  xiv.  6.  •*  Ibid.  xvi.  23. 

8* 


90  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  III. 

prayer.  But  if  we  are  ever  to  see  this  consequence  wrought 
out  b}'  divine  teaching,  we  must  find  it  in  some  future  stage 
of  instruction,  in  which  the  access  to  the  Father  by  tlie 
Son,  and  the  new  and  living  way  which  he  has  consecrated 
for  us,  and  the  offices  of  the  High  Priest  over  the  house 
of  God,  shall  be  recognized  as  the  true  grounds  of  the 
full  assurance  of  faith,  for  hira  who  draws  near  to  God  in 
prayer. 

The  argument  then  stands  thus.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Gospel  includes  special  revelations  which  must  from  their 
nature  become  the  foundations  of  moral  and  spiritual  life. 
But  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospels  they  are  not  so  treated, 
nor  indeed  could  they  be,  since  the  revelations  themselves 
are  chiefly  anticipator}^  allusions  to  facts  which  have  not 
yet  taken  place.  In  these  revelations  the  teaching  culmi- 
nates rather  than  commences.  The}'  are  the  point  at  which 
it  arrives,  not  that  from  which  it  stal'ts.  The  doctrine  does 
not  therefore  bear  the  character  of  finality.  We  expect 
another  stage,  in  which  these  special  revelations  shall  be 
not  onl}''  cleared  and  combined,  but  shall  hold  that  funda- 
mental place  in  the  whole  system  of  instruction  which  the}'' 
tend  inevitably  to  assume.  And  thus,  from  the  considera- 
tion of  the  substance  and  proportions  of  the  doctrine  in  the 
Gospels,  as  well  as  from  the  observation  of  its  form  and 
method,  I  conclude  that  I  am  here  only  in  an  initiatory 
stage  of  divine  teaching,  and  that  another  part  of  the  course 
must  lie  before  me. 

II.  But  I  am  not  left  to  draw  this  conclusion.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  Gospels  not  only  looks  as  if  it  were  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  another  stage  of  teaching,  but  declares  that  such 
is  the  fact.  I  come  to  my  second  proposition,  that  the 
personal  teaching  of  the  Lord  is  a  visibly  progressive  system^ 


LecT.  III.  THE   GOSPELS.  91 

wJuch,  on  reaching  its  Jiighest  point,  declares  its  own  incom- 
plete7iess,  and  refers  us  to  another  stage  of  instruction. 

1.  Place  side  by  side  the  first  discourse  in  St.  Mattliew 
and  the  last  in  St.  John,  and  the  truth  of  the  first  part  of 
this  proposition  is  at  once  apparent,  namely,  that  the  per- 
sonal teaching  of  the  Lord  is  a  visibly  progressive  system.. 
The  Sermon  on  'the  Mount  at  the  opening  of  the  rainistrj^ 
and  the  address  in  the  upper  room  delivered  at  its  close, 
are  separated  from  each  other,  not  only  by  difference  of  cir- 
cumstance and  feeling,  but  as  implying  on  the  part  of  the 
hearers  "uhollj'  different  stages  in  the  knowledge  of  truth. 
There  is  a  greater  interval  between  these  two  discourses 
than  there  is  between  the'  teaching  of  the  Gospels  as  a 
whole  and  that  of  the  Epistles. 

The  first  discourse  is  the  voice  of  a  minister  of  the  cir- 
cumcision, clearing  and  confirming  the  divine  teaching  given 
to  the  fathers.  Blessings,  laws,  and  promises  are  alike 
founded  on  the  Old  Testament  language,  which  the  speaker 
at  the  same  time  adopts  and  interprets.  He  keeps  in  a  line 
with  the  past,  while  he  makes  a  clear  step  in  advance.  He 
gives,  not  so  much  a  new  code,  as  a  new  edition  of  the  old 
one.  The  word  of  authorit^^,  "J  say  unto  3"ou,"  is  directed 
not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil.  It  is  the  authority  of  the  origi- 
nal lawgiver,  clearing  up  his  own  intentions,  and  disallowing 
the  perversions  of  men.  As  plainly  as  the  first  discourse 
links  itself  to  the  past,  so  plainly  does  the  last  discourse 
reach  on  to  the  future.  If  the  one  reverts  to  what  was  said 
in  old  time,  the  other  casts  the  mind  forward  on  a  day  of 
knowledge  which  is  dawning  and  a  new  teacher  who  is  com- 
ing. In  passing  from  the  one  point  to  the  other,  we  have 
left  behind  ns  the  language  and  associations  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament :  we  have  entered  a  new  world  of  thought,  and  hear 

8* 


92  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  HI. 

a  new  language  which  is  being  created  for  its  exigencies. 
What  makes  the  thought  and  tlie  language  new?  One  sin- 
gle fact ;  namely,  that  the  true  relation  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
to  the  spiritual  life  of  his  people  is  now  in  a  measure  re- 
vealed. "  Ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me : "  —  this  is 
the  kej'Uote  of  the  whole  address.  And  in  the  same  strain 
it  continues,  "  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me  ; " 
"Abide  in  me  and  I  in  you;"  "Without  me  ye  can  do 
nothing."  How  foreign  would  such  words  have  been  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount !  We  are  not  unprepared  for  them 
here,  though  even  here  the}^  mean  more  than  can  be  yet 
understood.  I  do  not  speak  of  single  expressions,  but  of 
the  whole  doctrine  on  faith  and  •pra5^er,  and  love,  and  ser- 
vice, and  hope,  and  life.  All  subjects  have  here  assumed 
their  distinctively  Christian  character:  they  are  "m  Christ 
Jesus."  The  faith  fixes  itself  on  him,  and  on  the  Father 
through  him.  The  prayer  is  "  in  his  name."  The  love  is 
a  response  to  his  love.  The  service  is  the  fruit  of  union 
with  him.  The  hope  is  that  of  being  with  him  where  he  is  ; 
to  abide  in  him  is  the  secret  of  life,  safety,  fruitfulness,  and 
joy ;  and  the  guiding  power  of  this  new  state  is  not  the 
explanation  of  a  law,  but  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  the 
Comforter.  Compare  these  ideas  with  those  which  charac- 
terize the  first  Gospel  teaching,  and  you  see  how  far  you 
have  been  carried  from  the  point  at  which  you  started.  You 
see  how  much  must  have  intervened  in  the  gradual  revela- 
tion of  Christ,  and  in  the  gradual  advance  of  his  teaching, 
before  such  a  stage  of  doctrine  could  be  reached. 

And  much  had  intervened.  To  show  how  much,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  trace  through  all  the  Gospel  record  the 
unfolding  of  the  salvation,  as  it  began  to  be  spoken  by  the 
Lord,  and  the  steps  by  which  it  was  brought  about,  that  the 


Lect.  III.  THE   GOSPELS.  93 

Master  and  the  disciples  should  become  the  Saviour  and  the 
believers,  and  that  the  external  hearing  and  following  should 
pass  into  the  m3'sterious  relations  of  an  inward  and  spiritual 
union.  It  is  enough  to  recall  the  fact  that,  through  all  the 
works  of  mercy,  the  corrections  of  error,  and  the  instruc- 
tions in  righteousness,  a  deeper  lesson  j'et  is  sinking  into 
the  minds  of  his  hearers,  in  the  growing  sense  of  a  profound 
and  ineffable  relation  borne  b}'  him  to  the  human  race  and 
to  ever}^  human  soul.  He  makes  it  felt,  that  he  stands 
before  men  as  the  one  object  on  which  faith  must  fasten,  as 
the  one  w^ho  has  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins,  who  is  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost,  who  gives  rest  to  the 
heavy  laden,  as  the  giver  of  eternal  life,  as  the  quickener  of 
whom  he  will,  as  the  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven 
that  a  man  may  eat  thereof  and  not  die,  as  giving  his  flesh 
for  the  life  of  the  world,  his  life  a  ransom  for  man}',  his 
blood  as  the  blood  of  the  new  covenant  shed  for  many  for 
the  remission  of  sins.  Testimonies  like  these  gather  as  we 
advance  ;  and  while  the  Lord  in  his  ordinary  teaching  ful- 
fils his  mission  as  the  expounder  of  the  laws,  and  the  exam- 
ple of  the  character,  and  the  prophet  of  the  destinies  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  he  discloses  at  the  same  time  by  these 
scattered  sayings  a  far  deeper  and  more  fundamental  rela- 
tion to  that  kingdom  and  to  all  its  several  members. 

But  while  these  disclosures  are  yet  in  progress  they  are 
suddenl}'  cut  off.  The  ministry  must  end  :  the  hour  is 
come.  We  enter  the  upper  room,  and  attend  the  last  dis- 
course, which  is  the  close  and  the  consummation  of  the 
teaching  of  the  Lord  on  earth. 

2.  We  turn,  then,  to  that  portion  of  the  word  of  God 
which  extends  from  the  beginning  of  the  14th  to  the  end  of 
the  17th  chapter  of  St.  John.     There,  in  words  most  simple 


94  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  III. 

but  nnfatliomably  deep,  addressed  first  to  men  and  then  to 
God,  there  flow  forth  the  thoughts  which  belong  to  that 
hour.  Oh  tender,  solemn  words  !  oh  words  of  majest}^  and 
love,  of  divine  sorrow  and  joy !  words  for  the  saddest 
moments,  the  loftiest  moments,  the  last  moments  of  life ! 
Not  in  the  cold  spirit  of  one  who  would  prove  a  point  do  I 
turn  to  them  now,  thougli  it  be  indeed  to  decide  a  question. 
But  what  a  question  !  Not  one  aflfecting  some  single  doc- 
trine which  some  text  in  the  discourse  may  touch,  but  one 
affecting  all  the  doctrine  before  and  after,  all  that  began  to 
be  spoken  by  the  Lord  and  was  confirmed  to  us  by  them 
that  heard  him.  It  is  the  question  whether  the  point  which 
we  have  reached  is  final  or  central :  whether  the  true  teach- 
ing of  God  here  reaches  a  close  or  effects  a  transition. 
There  is  no  uncertainty  in  the  answer,  for  to  give  that 
answer  is  one  main  purpose  of  the  discourse.  The  Lord 
speaks  to  the  occasion.  He  would  have  it  understood  to 
what  point  in  the  progress  of  his  teaching  we  are  come, 
and  what  is  the  relation  between  that  which  is  now  ending 
and  that  which  is  about  to  begin. 

At  the  first  glance  it  is  plain  that  the  character  of  the 
discourse  is  distinctly  transitional;  that  it  announces  not 
an  encZ,  but  a  change;  and  that,  in  closing  one  course  of 
teaching,  it  at  the  same  time  opens  another.  As  the  first 
discourse  linked  the  personal  teaching  of  Christ  to  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets  which  went  before  it,  so  the  last  discourse 
links  that  teaching  to  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  which 
is  to  come  after  it.  The  fact  on  which  the  first  is  founded 
is  that  the  Law  of  God  has  been  given  to  men  as  the  guide 
to  rigJiteousness ;  the  fact  on  which  the  last  is  founded  is 
that  Jesus  himself  has  now  been  presented  to  men  as  the 
object  of  faith.     And  as  it  was  intimated  in  the  one  case 


LeCT.  m.  THE    GOSPELS.  95 

that  the  lesson  of  righteousness  was  jet  incomplete,  and 
was  to  be  perfected  by  Jesus  himself,  so  it  is  intimated  in 
the  other  that  the  lesson  of  faith  is  yet  incomplete,  and  is 
to  be  perfected  by  the  Holy  Ghost  whom  he  will  send. 

First,  the  narrative  is  careful  to  show  us  that  this  lesson 
of  faith  had  been  imperfectly  learned.  The  auditors  are 
the  men  whom  the  Lord  had  chosen  and  trained,  and  who 
had  watched  most  closely  the  whole  course  of  his  manifesta- 
tion. Yet,  as  he  proceeds,  what  do  we  hear?  "  Lord,  we 
know  not  whither  thou  goest,  and  how  can  we  know  the 
way  ?  "  "  Show  us  the  Father  and  it  sufficethus."  "  How 
is  it  that  thou  wilt  manifest  thyself  unto  us  and  not  unto 
the  world?"  "  What  is  this  that  he  saith?  we  cannot  tell 
what  he  saith."  By  such  voices  of  faint  and  partial  appre- 
hension or  of  sore  perplexity,  we  learn  how  far  the  teaching 
of  the  past  had  gone  with  them,  in  regard  to  those  truths 
which  were  being  then  set  forth. 

But  it  might  be,  notwithstanding,  that  the  course  of 
divine  instruction  was  complete,  and  that  events  3"et  to 
come  and  reflection  on  the  past  would  be  sufficient  to  open 
to  them  its  meaning.  Not  thus  does  the  Lord  reply. 
Mingled  with  sad  reflections,  that  he  has  been  so  long  time 
with  them  and  that  yet  they  have  not  known  him,  he  gives 
the  consoling  assurance  that  their  instruction  in  the  truth 
is  not  3'et  ended.  A  part  of  it  is  over,  but  only  a  part ; 
and  a  part  which  had  its  hindrances  as  well  as  its  helps. 
The  presence  of  Christ  in  the  flesh  had  been  a  help  to 
what  they  had  already  learned  ;  it  was  ^  hindrance  to  what 
they  had  now  to  learn.^^®^  While  he  sat  there  before  them 
in  the  body,  it  was  hard  to  understand  the  mystery  of  a 
spiritual  union.  That  hindrance  is  to  be  removed  ;  "  It  is 
expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away." 


96  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  III. 

Then  the  teaching  which  he  had  given  them  must  close. 
Yes,  but  another  teaching  shall  be  substituted;  which 
shall  be  also  Jus,  though  suited  to  the  new  relations  which 
he  shall  bear  to  them  in  his  glorified  state.  "It  is  ex- 
pedient for  you  that  I  go  awa}^,  for  if  I  go  not  away  the 
Comforter  will  not  come  nnto  you,  but  if  I  depart  I  will 
send  him  unto  you."  Then  follow  those  precious  promises 
•of  the  coming  and  office  and  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
expand  their  fulfilment  over  the  whole  Church  and  through- 
out all  ages.  But  while  it  is  clear  that,  in  the  way  of  ex- 
tension and  of  inference,  many  of  the  words  allow  and 
invite  this  wider  application,  it  is  far  more  evident  that 
in  their  first  intention  they  are  directly  addressed  to  those 
who  heard  them,  and  meant  to  meet  the  question  of  the 
particular  crisis  which  had  then  arrived.^ 

1  "  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you  another  Com- 
forter, that  lie  may  abide  with  you  forever ;  even  the  Spirit  of 
truth;  whom  the  world  cannot  receive,  because  it  seeth  him 
not,  neither  kuoweth  him :  but  ye  know  him,  for  he  dwelleth 
with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you.  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless, 
I  will  come  unto  you."  John  xiv.  16-18.  "At  that  day  ye  shall 
know  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you."  Ver. 
20.  "  These  things  have  I  spoken  to  you,  while  abiding  with  you; 
but  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father 
will  send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all 
things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you." 
Ver.  25,  26.  "When  the  Comforter  is  come,  he  shall  testify  of 
me."  XV.  26.  "  He  shall  reprove  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteous- 
ness, and  of  judgment:  of  sin,  because  they  believe  not  on  me;  of 
righteousness,  because  I  go  to  my  Father,  and  ye  see  me  no  more ; 
of  judgment,  because  the  prince  of  this  world  is  judged.  I  have 
yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now. 
Howbeit,  when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  shall  guide  you 


LeCT.  III.  THE   GOSPELS.  97 

No  more  distinct  assurance  could  have  been  given  that 
tbose  future  teachers  of  the  world  were  not  then  at  the  end, 
but  only  at  a  certain  point  in  the  progress  of  their  educa- 
tion, and  that  a  teaching  remained  for  them,  which  should 
both  continue  and  surpass  that  which  they  had  already 
received. 

But  had  they  not  heard  the  truth  from  their  Lord  !  Yes  ; 
and  it  was  to  be  the  office  of  the  Spirit  to  recall  to  their 
minds  the  truth  which  they  had  heard,  as  the  text  and 
substance  of  their  future  knowledge.  "  He  shall  bring  all 
things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  I  have  said  unto 
you."  But  though  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  all  the  truth 
might  be  implied^  it  was  not  all  opened;  therefore  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  to  add  that  which  had  not  been  delivered, 
as  well  as  to  recall  that  which  had  been  already  spoken. 
There  is  an  evident  contrast  intended,  with  regard  to  ex- 
tent of  knowledge,  between  '•'■  these  things  which  I  have 
spoken  while  yd  present  with  3'ou,"  and  "  all  things  which 
he  shall  teach  jon"  Nay,  there  is  the  plainest  assertion 
which  could  be  made,  that  things  were  to  be  said  after- 
wards which  had  not  been  said  then ;  and  those  not  few 
but  many —  ("  I  have  j^et  many  things  to  say  unto  you") 
— not  of  secondary  importance  but  of  the  highest  moment 
("  Ye  cannot  bear  them  now."  ^)  They  are  things  of  such  a 
kind  as  would  now  weigh  down  and  oppress  your  minds, 
seeing  that  they  surpass  your  present  powers  of  spiritual 
apprehension.     But  these  many  and  weighty  things  shall 

into  all  truth ;  for  he  shall  not  speak  of  himself,  but  whatsoever 
he  shall  hear  that  shall  he  speak ;  and  he  shall  show  you  things  to 
come.  He  shall  glorify  me,  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall 
show  it  unto  you."  xvi.  8-14. 

1  oil  ^vvaaQt  ^turra^nv. 
9 


98  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  III. 

not  be  left  untold  :  ''  When  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come, 
he  shall  guide  you  into  all  the  truth."  He  shall  guide 
yon/  as  b}^  successive  steps  and  continuous  direction,  into 
the  whole  of  that  truth  ^  of  which  the  commencements  have 
now  been  given ;  and  especiallj'  into  the  highest  and  cen- 
tral part  of  it.  For  it  is  also  made  plain  on  what  subject 
this  light  shall  be  poured,  and  into  what  mysteries  this 
guidance  shall  lead.  "  He  shall  testify  of  me;"  "  he  shall 
glorify  me;"  "he  shall  take  of  7ni7ie  and  show  it  unto 
you  ;  "  "at  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  the  Father, 
and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you."  Not  then  for  some  secondary 
matters  (details  of  Church  order  or  relations  of  Jews  and 
Gentiles)  was  this  light  and  witness  of  the  Hol}^  Ghost 
reserved  (though  to  these  questions  also  the  divine  guid- 
ance extended),  but  rather  for  the  great  and  central  mys- 
tery of  godliness,  embracing  the  nature,  work,  and  offices 
of  Jesus  Christ,  his  mediatorial  relations  to  the  Father  and 
to  the  Church,  the  redemption  of  men  by  his  blood,  and  the 
salvation  of  men  by  his  life.  But  instead  of  attempting  to 
enumerate  these  great  ideas,  it  were  better  to  comprehend 
them  all  in  his  own  vast  and  unexplained  expression,  "  He 
shall  take  of  mine,^  and  shall  show  it  unto  you." 

We  have  now  reviewed  the  teaching  of  our  Lord  in  the 
flesh,  in  order  to  draw  from  it  an  answer  to  this  question, 
"  Is  the  revelation  of  the  great  salvation  given  to  us  in 
that  teaching  to  be  considered  as  final  and  complete?" 
The  answer  has  been,  "  No !  It  has  not  the  appearance 
of  being  final,  and  it  explicitly  declares  that  it  is  not  com- 
plete.    When  it  was  ended,  it  was  to  be  followed  by  a  new 


LeCT.  m.  THE   GOSPELS.  99 

testimony  from  God,  in  order  that  many  things  might  be 
spoken  which  had  not  been  spoken  then." 

The  testimon}^  came  ;  the  things  were  spoken ;  and  in 
the  apostolic  writings  we  have  their  enduring  record. 
In  those  writings  we  find  the  fulfilment  of  an  expectation 
which  the  Gospels  raised,  and  recognize  the  performance 
of  a  promise  which  the  Gospels  gave.  If  we  do  not^  the 
word  of  salvation,  which  began  to  be  spoken  b}^  the  Lord, 
has  never  been  finished  for  us.  Then,  not  onl}'  would  the 
end  be  wanting,  but  the  beginning  would  become  obscure. 
The  lessons  of  holiness  would  still  shine  in  their  own 
pure  light,  and  the  rebukes  of  human  error  would  show  in 
their  severe  outlines  ;  but  the  words  which  open  by  antici- 
pation the  mystery  of  the  great  salvation,  flashing  some- 
times on  its  deep  foundations,  sometimes  on  its  lofty 
summits,  would  but  dazzle  and  confuse  our  sight ;  and  we 
should  be  tempted  to  turn  from  their  discoveries,  as  from 
visions  which  had  no  substance,  or  from  enigmas  which  we 
could  not  interpret. 

And  so  in  fact  they  treat  the  personal  teaching  of  Christ 
who  give  not  its  due  honor  to  the  subsequent  witness  of  his 
Spirit,  regarding  the  apostolic  writings  as  onl}'  Petrine, 
Pauline,  or  Alexandrian  versions  of  the  Christian  doctrine, 
interesting  records  of  the  views  of  individuals  or  schools  of 
opinion  concerning  the  salvation  which  Jesus  began  to 
speak.  No !  the  words  of  our  Lord  are  not  honoi^d  (as 
these  men  seem  to  think)  by  being  thus  isolated ;  for  it  is 
an  isolation  which  separates  them  from  other  words  which 
also  are  his  own,  words  given  by  him  in  that  day  when  he 
no  longer  spake  in  proverbs,  but  showed  his  servants 
plainlj^  of  the  Father.  The  brief  communications  in  which 
the  salvation  began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord  must  lose 


100         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRIXE.    Lect.  III. 

half  their  glory,  if  a  mist  and  darkness  be  cast  over  that 
later  teaching  which  was  ordained  to  throw  its  reflex  light 
upon  them. 

Our  thoughts  have  now  arrived  at  the  point  where  the 
da}^  of  "  speaking  in  proverbs  "  changes  into  the  day  of 
"  showing  plainly."  It  is  a  critical  moment ;  for,  whatever 
progress  of  doctrine  the  change  may  involve,  all  our  satis- 
faction in  its  increased  distinctness  of  outline  and  accumu- 
lated fulness  of  detail  must  depend  on  our  assurance  that 
the  teacher  is  still  the  same.  My  next  duty  will  therefore 
be  that  of  noting  the  care  which  he  himself  has  taken  to  fix 
that  assurance  on  our  minds.  His  care  is  never  wanting 
where  it  is  needed,  and  we  have  cause  to  praise  his  holy 
name  that  in  this,  as  well  as  in  so  many  other  ways,  he  has 
knit  together  the  one  body  of  his  written  word  by  living 
and  indissoluble  bands,  so  that  its  interdependent  parts 
fulfil  efiectually  their  several  functions,  in  commencing  or 
completing  the  one  testimony  of  the  great  salvation. 

It  is  of  the  testimony  that  I  now  speak.  More  happy  is 
that  common  ministrj^  in  which  we  present  the  salvation 
itself.  Only  for  the  sake  of  the  salvation  does  the  testi- 
mony exist.  There  is  a  deep  interest  for  every  considerate 
mind  in  the  form,  the  plan,- the  character,  of  the  sacred 
writings ;  but  it  is  not  a  merel}"  literary  or  intellectual 
interest :  it  is  one  created  by  the  object  for  which  the 
writings  are  given.  The  reader  of  the  Gospels  is  not 
suffered  to  close  the  volume  without  a  solemn  admonition 
of  the  purpose  for  which  it  has  been  placed  in  his  hands. 
"  These  things  are  written  that  5^e  may  believe  that  Jesus 
is  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  believing  ye  may  have  life 
through  his  name."  Does  it  wound  our  hearts  to  see  this 
wondrous  record  misapprehended,  its  unit}^  denied,  its  glory 


Lect.  hi.  the  gospels.  101 

darkened?  Perhaps  it  is  a  sadder  sight  in  the  e3"e  of 
heaven  when  its  inspiration  is  vindicated,  its  perfection 
appreciated,  its  majesty  asserted,  by  one  who  at  the  same 
time  for  himself  neglects  the  great  salvation.  Such  a 
case  is  not  impossible  —  perhaps  is  not  uncommon.  The 
Day  will  declare  it.  At  least  let  it  be  remembered,  that 
the  study  of  the  testimony  is  one  thing,  and  the  enjoyment 
of  the  salvation  is  another,  and  that  the  record  of  the 
things  which  Jesus  did  and  said  has  attained  its  end  with 
those  only,  who,  "  believing,  have  life  through  his  name." 

9* 


LECTURE    TV. 

THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

THE  FORMER  TREATISE  HAVE  I  MADE,  O  THEOPHILUS,  OF  ALL  THAT  JESUS 
BEGAN  BOTH  TO  DO  AND  TO  TEACH,  UXTIL  THE  DAY  IN  WHICH  HE  WAS 
TAKEN  UP,  AFTER  THAT  HE  THROUGH  THE  HOLY  GHOST  HAD  GIVEN  COM- 
MANDMENTS UNTO  THE  APOSTLES  WHOM  HE  HAD  CHOSEN  :  TO  WHOM  ALSO 
HE  SHEWED  HIMSELF  ALIVE  AFTER  HIS  PASSION  BY  MANY  INFALLIBLE 
PROOFS,  BEING  SEEN  OF  THEM  FORTY  DAYS,  AND  SPEAKING  OF  THE  THINGS 
PERTAINING  TO 'tHE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD:  AND,  BEING  ASSEMBLED  TO- 
GETHER WITH  THEM,  COMMANDED  THEM  THAT  THEY  SHOULD  NOT  DEPART 
FROM  JERUSALEM,  BUT  WAIT  FOR  THE  PROMISE  OF  THE  FATHER,  WHICH, 
SAITH  HE,  YE  HAVE  HEARD  OF  WE.  —  Acts  i.  1-4. 

With  these  words  we  enter  on  a  new  stage  of  historj^  and 
of  doctrine,  and  tlie}^  are  words  which  connect  it  with  the 
past.  The  links  of  Scripture  (if  I  may  so  call  them)  unit- 
ing one  part  to  another,  and  assisting  our  sense  of  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  whole,  are  worth}"  of  especial  notice.  Thus 
the  Gospels  have  been  brought  to  a  fit  and  (as  it  seems 
from  the  final  words)  an  intended  conclusion,  at  the  end  of 
the  twentieth  chapter  of  St.  John  ;  but  jQt  another  chapter 
is  added,  as  if  dictated  by  some  afterthought,  which  in  its 
effect  links  the  whole  Gospel  record  to  the  book  which  suc- 
ceeds it.  The  miracle  which  had  alreadj^  foreshadowed  the 
work  of  the  fishers  of  men  is  repeated,  but  with  altered  cir- 
cumstances, tj-^Dical  of  the  change  Avhich  was  at  hand.  For 
now  the  Lord  is  no  longer  with  them  in  the  ship,  but  stands 
diml}'  seen  upon  the  shore  ;  yet  from  thence  issues  bis  direc- 
tions, and  shows  the  presence  of  his  power  working  with 
them  in  their  seemingly  lonely  toil.     Then  the  charge  is 

102 


LeCT.  rV.  THE    ACTS   OF   THE   APOSTLES.  103 

left  to  "feed  his  sheep,"  and  las^  the  future  destinies  of 
the  two  chief  Apostles  are  suflfered  to  be  faintly  seen. 

In  like  manner  does  the  book  of  Acts  at  its  opening  at- 
tach itself  to  the  preceding  record ;  throwing  back  our 
thoughts  on  "  the  former  treatise  of  all  that  Jesus  began 
both  to  do  and  teach,"  and  then  passing  rapidl}^  in  review 
the  last  circumstances  which  connect  the  Apostles  with 
their  Lord,  as  the  instruments  which  he  had  chosen  and 
prepared  for  the  work  which  he  had  j-et  to  do.  Thus  the 
history  which  follows  is  United  to,  or  (may  I  not  rather  say) 
welded  with,  the  past ;  and  the  founding  of  the  Church  in 
the  earth  is  presented  as  one  continuous  work,  begun  by 
the  Lord  in  person,  and  perfected  by  the  same  Lord  through 
the  ministry  of  men.  This  is  the  point  on  which  I  have 
now  to  insist.  "  The  former  treatise"  delivered  to  us,  not 
all  that  Jesus  did  and  taught,  but  "  all  that  Jesus  began 
both  to  do  and  teach,  until  the  da}^  when  he  was  taken  up." 
The  following  writings  appear  intended  to  give  us,  and  do 
in  fact  profess  to  give  us,  that  which  Jesus  continued  to  do 
and  teach  after  the  day  in  which  he  was  taken  up.  ^''^ 

There  are  then  two  points  which  claim  our  attention  when 
we  pass  be^^ond  that  day,  and  enter  on  the  second  stage  of 
New  Testament  doctrine.  One  is  that  the  autliority  is  con- 
tinued; the  other  is  that  the  method  is  changed.  Our  in- 
quiries will  naturally  be  directed  (1)  to  the  evidence  for  the 
first  fact,  and  (3)  to  the  reasons  for  the  second. 

I.  Plrst,  then,  I  turn  to  the  books  which  lie  before  us,  to 
ask  what  evidence  they  give,  that  the  divine  authority,  tohich 
was  self-evident  in  the  first  stage  of  teaching,  is  continued 
also  in  the  second,  or,  in  other  words,  that  this  is  as  really 
as  the  other  a  part  of  revelation,  and  a  period  of  divine  com- 
munication of  tnith  to  man.     The  fundamental  part  of  this 


104         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  IV. 

evidence  consists  in  the  words,  which  were  cited  in  the  last 
lecture,  from  the  month  of  the  Lord  himself;  for  in  the 
words  of  Jiis  lips  is  centred  the  evidence  for  all  teaching 
which  he  has  given  us  through  the  lips  of  men.  But  we  are 
now  to  see  how  these  intimations  are  supported  in  the  books 
which  follow. 

1.  "We  find,  then,  that  the  doctrinal  writings  of  the  Apos- 
tles are  prefaced  by  the  book  of  Acts,  some  account  of  that 
which  was  done  being  given  as  an  introduction  to  the  record 
of  that  which  was  taught.  The  function  of  this  book  in  t4ie 
scheme  of  Scripture  is  of  very  high  importance,  in  other 
respects,  to  which  we  must  advert  hereafter,  and  especially 
in  that  which  concerns  us  now.  It  is  a  record  of  the  'per- 
sonal action  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  first  evolution  of 
his  gospel  and  formaiion  of  his  Church. 

With  him  and  with  his  last  words  on  earth  the  book  be- 
gins, reminding  us  of  his  commission  and  commands  to  the 
Apostles  whom  he  had  chosen.  Then  we  see  him  depart, 
and  they  are  left  to  their  work.  Yet  they  do  not  begin  it 
till  the  promised  Spirit  is  come  ;  they  wait  for  the  promise 
of  the  Father,  which  they  have  heard  of  him.  One  trans- 
action in  the  interval  shows  their  own  assurance  that  he 
who  directed  them  so  lately  intends  to  direct  them  still : 
"Thou,  Lord,  which  knowest  the  hearts  of  all  men,  show 
whether  of  these  two  thou  hast  chosen,  that  he  may  take 
part  in  this  ministry  and  apostleship."  ^  Such  language  in- 
timates the  relation  in  which  they  still  felt  themselves  to 
their  now  unseen  Master.  But  soon  the  promised  gift  is 
bestowed,  and  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  has  begun. 
And  what  in  their  view  is  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit? 

1  Acts  i.  24. 


LeCT.  IV.     THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.        105 

It  is  the  agencj^  and  gift  of  Jesus.  "Being  by  the  right 
hand  of  God  exalted,  and  having  received  of  the  Father  the 
promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  hath  shed  forth  this,  which 
ye  now  see  and  hear."  ^ 

This  view  of  the  operation  of  the  Spirit,  as  the  medium 
through  which  the  Lord  Jesus  wrought  and  taught,  is  car- 
ried through  the  whole  course  of  the  history  which  follows. 
As  in  the  promise,  so  in  the  history,  "  The  Comforter  will 
come  unto  you  "  —  "7  will  come  unto  j'ou,"  —  are  but  two 
sides  of  one  and  the  same  fact.  On  critical  occasions  and 
at  each  onward  step  the  hand  of  the  Master  is  made  dis- 
tinctly visible.  The  first  martyr  dies  for  a  testimony,  which 
is  felt  to  be  an  adA^ance  on  what  had  been  given  before, 
being  understood  to  implj"  that  "  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
shall  destroy  this  place,  and  change  the  customs  which 
Moses  delivered  us  ; "  and  his  words  are  sealed  by  the  vis- 
ion of  his  Lord  in  glor}^.  The  consignment  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  Ethiopian  proselyte  was  another  step  in  advance, 
and  for  this  "the  angel  of  the  Lord  spake  unto  Philip." 
The  preaching  of  the  word  to  Gentiles,  and  their  admission 
into  the  Church,  was  a  greater  step  ;  and  for  this  the  Lord 
intervenes  by  the  mission  of  an  angel  to  Cornelius,  by  a 
vision  and  a  voice  of  the  Spirit  to  Peter,  and  by  a  kind  of 
second  Pentecost  to  the  converts  themselves.  But  when 
the  greatest  step  of  all  is  to  be  taken  in  the  onward  course 
of  the  Gospel,  then  most  visibly  does  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church  make  manifest  his  personal  administration.  A  new 
Apostle  appears  ;  not  like  him  who  was  added  before  Pen- 
tecost, completing  the  number  of  the  original  college,  and 
losing  his  individuality  in  its  ranks  ;  but  one  standing  apart 

1  Acts  ii.  33. 


106         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  IV. 

and  in  advance,  under  whose  hand  both  the  doctrines  and 
the  destinies  of  the  Gospel  receive  a  development  so  exten- 
sive and  so  distinct  that  it  seemed  almost  another  Gospel 
to  many  who  witnessed  it,  and  to  some  who  study  it  seems 
so  still.     How  striking  is  the  special  authentication  appro- 
priated to  this  stage  of  teaching  !     This  man's  conversion, 
education,   commission,  direction,  the   Lord  Jesus  under- 
takes himself.     Suddenly  he  meets  him  in  the  wa}",  shines 
forth  upon  him  in  a  light  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun, 
speaks  to  him  by  a  voice  from  heaven,  calls  him  by  name, 
convinces,  adopts,  directs    him,  commands  Ananias   con- 
cerning him,  and  (apparentl}''  on  repeated  occasions)  an- 
nounces the  use  which  he  has  decreed  to  make  of  "  the 
chosen  vessel."     The  subsequent  history  is  marked  by  con- 
tinual testimonies  of  the  same  divine  intervention,  given  at 
ever}'^  step  which  might  involve  the  doubt  whether  it  were 
of  Paul  or  of  Christ.     When  his  soul  clave  to  the  ministry 
among  his  own  people,  he  was  forced  from  it  by  immediate 
command :  "  It  came  to  pass  that,  while  I  prayed  in  the 
Temple,  I  was  in  a  trance,  and  saw  him  saying  unto  me, 
Make  haste  and  get  thee  quickl}^  out  of  Jerusalem,  for  the}^ 
will  not  receive  thy  testimony  concerning  me  :  depart,  for  I 
will  send  thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles."  ^   When  he  had 
fixed  himself  as  a  settled  teacher  in  Antioch,  "  the  Spirit 
said.  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work  where- 
unto  I  have  called  them."     When  he  would  have  confined 
himself  to  the  Eastern  Continent,  and  turned,  in  his  con- 
templated circuit,  first  to  Asia,  and  then  to  Bithynia,  "  the 
Spirit  sufiered  him  not,"  and  a  divine  message  enabled  him 
to  "gather  assuredly  that  the  Lord  had  called  him"  to  carry 

lActs  xxii.  17,  18,  21. 


LeCT.  rV.  THE   ACTS    OF   THE    APOSTLES.  107 

his  Gospel  into  Europe.  Again,  in  Corinth,  the  Lord's  own 
voice  directed  him  to  remain,  as  in  the  head-quarters  of  the 
Grecian  world.  In  Jerusalem,  when  disheartened  and  per- 
haps doubtful  of  the  course  he  had  taken,  his  Master  came 
to  assure  him  of  the  acceptance  of  his  past  testimony,  and 
announce  the  purpose  that  he  should  bear  witness  also  at 
Rome ;  and  finally  in  the  shipwreck  itself,  when  all  hope 
of  being  saved  was  taken  away,  the  declaration  of  the  di- 
vine purpose  was  made  3'et  more  distinct :  "  Fear  not,  Paul, 
thou  must  be  brought  before  Caesar." 

Thus  does  he,  who  at  the  commencement  of  the  history 
was  seen  to  pass  into  the  heavens,  continue  to  appear  in 
person  on  the  scene.  His  Apostles  act,  not  onl}^  on  his  past 
commission,  but  under  his  present  direction.  He  is  not 
wholly  concealed  by  the  cloud  which  had  received  him  out 
of  their  sight.  Now  his  voice  is  heard  ;  now  his  hand  put 
forth ;  and  now  thi'ough  a  sudden  rift  the  brightness  of  his 
presence  shines.  And  these  appearances,  voices,  and  vis- 
ions are  not  merely  incidental  favors  ;  they  are,  as  we  have 
seen,  apportioned  to  the  moments  when  they  are  ivanted, 
moments  which  determine  the  course  which  the  Gospel 
takes,  and  in  which  a  manifestation  of  divine  guidance 
proves  the  divine  guidance  of  the  whole.  The  ship  rushes 
on  its  wa}^,  shunning  the  breakers,  dashing  through  the  bil- 
lows, certain  of  its  track.  The  crew  work  it,  but  do  not 
guide  it.  We  can  see  the  strong  movements  of  the  helm, 
and  from  time  to  time  discern  a  firm  hand  which  holds  it. 
No  chances,  no  winds  or  currents,  bear  it  along  at  their  will, 
but  he  who  has  launched  it  guides  it,  and  he  knows  the 
course  which  it  takes. 

The  divine  direction,  which  is  thus  exhibited  in  the  book 
of  the  Acts,  is  indeed  the  direction  of  a  course  of  action 


108  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  L^CT.  lY. 

rather  tban  a  course  of  teaching.  It  seems  to  be  the  guid- 
ance of  the  movements  of  the  Gospel,  rather  than  of  the/or- 
mation  of  the  Gospel ;  and  our  present  inquir}'  is  concerned 
with  the  progress  of  its  formation,  not  with  the  progress  of 
its  extension.  Yet  in  the  apostolic  period  these  two  kinds 
of  progress  co-exist,  and,  as  it  were,  cohere  ;  and  the  out- 
ward divine  direction  of  the  one  is  offered  as  surety  for  the 
inward  divine  direction  of  the  other.  In  the  earlier  period, 
the  things  which  Jesus  began  to  do  were  the  proof  and  sup- 
port of  the  things  which  he  began  to  teach;  and  in  the  later 
period,  that  which  he  continued  to  do,  in  the  acts  of  his 
Apostles,  is  the  pledge  that  in  their  doctrine  also  it  was  he 
who  continued  to  teach.  The  inference  is  natural  and  is 
plainly  intended,  —  If  the  introductory  historical  book  mani- 
fests the  direction  of  the  Lord  in  the  acts  of  these  men,  then 
in  the  subsequent  doctrincd  books  ive  must  oicn  his  direction 
in  their  teaching.  Such  an  inference  would  be  reasonable, 
if  we  regarded  the  teaching  as  simply  an  accompaniment  of 
the  acting ;  such  an  inference  is  inevitable,  when  we  see 
that  the  delivery  of  the  truth  to  the  world  is  the  one  end 
and  object  of  what  is  done. 

I  must  further  observe,  that  the  facts  recorded  in  the  book 
of  Acts  are  not  only  a  pledge  of  the  divine  authorit}^  of  the 
doctrine  in  the  Epistles,  but  are  also  the  means  through 
which  that  doctrine  was  perfected.  As  the  Gospel  was 
guided  through  its  conflict  with  the  contemporaneous  Juda- 
ism ;  as  it  spread  from  the  Hebrews  to  the  Grecians,  to  the 
dispersion,  to  the  devout  persons,  to  the  heathen  beyond ; 
as  it  passed  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  to  Corinth,  to 
Rome  ;  as  it  was  presented  to  men  first  through  Peter,  and 
then  through  Paul,  —  its  doctrines  were  gaining  at  every 
step  in  definiteness  and  fulness.      Questions  arose  which 


LeCT.  IV.     THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.        109 

compelled  decision  ;  new  states  of  mind  in  receivers  of  truth 
called  out,  not  new  principles  of  truth,  but  new  applications 
of  it ;  and  the  growth  of  Churches  and  the  advance  of 
Christian  life  led  to  the  settlement  of  points  which  could 
not  have  been  raised  till  such  a  state  of  things  had  arisen. 
Under  these  circumstances,  a  divine  guidance  of  e^^nts  was 
only  a  means  for  the  divine  guidance  of  doctrine.  If  the 
Lord  himself  sensibly  interfere,  to  send  Peter  to  Caesarea, 
and  to  call  Paul  to  bear  his  name  before  Gentiles  and  kings, 
then  not  only  those  steps,  but  the  doctrinal  results  of  them, 
•are  visibly  included  in  the  purpose  of  God  and  marked  with 
the  seal  of  heaven. 

More  than  this  we  can  hardly  ask  for  from  the  book  of 
Acts,  seeing  that  its  province  is  in  the  outward  scene,  and 
its  office  is  to  record  the  march  of  events.  We  pass  from 
it  to  the  Epistles  with  the  fullest  assurance  which  such  evi- 
dence can  afford,  that  the  doctrine  which  they  contain  is 
given  b}^  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  that,  if  it  appear  an  advance 
upon  that  whicli  he  spake  with  his  lips  in  the  days  of  his 
flesh,  that  advance  has  been  matured  by  himself. 

In  the  Epistles  which  have  for  their  province,  not  history 
but  doctrine,  some  direct  statements  on  this  subject  might 
perhaps  be  expected.  Whether  expected  or  not,  they  are 
certainly  found.  The  great  body  of  the  Epistles  are  the 
writings  of  St.  Paul.  The  change  in  the  aspect  of  their 
doctrine  as  compared  with  the  Gospel  tj^pe  bears  chiefly  the 
impress  of  his  mind.  It  has  been  called,  and  may  be  prop- 
erly called,  the  Pauline  doctrine.  Is  it  also  absolutely  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  ?  or  is  it  an  individual  variety  of  that 
doctrine,  to  be  regarded  (so  far  as  it  seems  peculiar)  as  one 
allowable  form  of  the  original  truth?  a  token  that  there 
shall  be,  a  warrant  that  there  may  be,  various  systems  of 

10 


110  THE   PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  IV. 

opinion  in  the  Church  ?  The  question  in  fact  is  this,  Is  the 
voice  of  Paul  speaking  in  the  Scriptures  to  be  taken  by  the 
Church  as  the  voice  of  Jesus?  This  question  has  been  an- 
swered by  the  history  in  the  Acts.  We  have  akeady  recalled 
to  our  minds  the  special  choice,  and  call,  and  commission, 
and  direction,  which  were  assigned  to  the  Apostle  born  out 
of  due  time  ;  the  confirmation  of  his  proceedings  when  they 
were  most  questioned,  the  divine  fellowship  in  his  course 
when  it  seemed  most  lonely.  But  there  is  yet  a  more  direct 
answer  than  this  ;  one  which  his  own  words  supply. 

In  his  writings  in  general  he  is  careful  to  assert  the 
reality  of  his  apostleship,  as  conferred  by  immediate  ap- 
pointment and  bearing  the  seal  of  God  ;  and  it  is  observa- 
ble, that  the  strength  of  these  expressions  is  proportioned 
to  the  occasions  when  the  authority  of  the  office  involves 
the  authority  of  the  doctrine.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians,  when  he  has  to  maintain  his  gospel  as  being  the  gos- 
pel, we  find  the  precision  which  marks  the  language  of  one 
who  knows  what  insinuations  he  has  to  negative  :  "Paul, 
an  Apostle,  not  of  men^  neither  by  men^  ^  but  by  ^  Jesus 
Christ,  and  God  the  Father,  who  raised  him  from  the  dead." 
He  declares  himself  to  have  been  placed,  not  originally 
from  men,  nor  mediately  by  any  man's  ministry,  but  by  the 
very  hand  of  Christ,  in  the  chair  from  which  his  instruc- 
tions are  delivered,  and  thus  he  attaches  the  authority  of 
the  commission  to  the  instructions  which  are  given  under 
it.  But  he  goes  farther,  and  affirms  that  those  instructions 
themselves  were  no  less  immediately  received  from  the 
Lord  Jesus,  than  was  the  commission  under  which  they 
were  delivered. 


LeCT.  IV.    THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         Ill 

Let  me  ask  your  attention  to  the  language  which  this 
Apostle  uses,  AThen  speaking  of  the  sources  whence -the 
matter  of  his  preaching  was  derived.  Take  first  two 
passages  from  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  He 
says  (ch.  xi.  23-25),  "/  have  received  of  the  Lord  that 
which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the 
night  in  which  he  was  betrayed  took  bread ;  and  having 
given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and  said.  Take,  eat :  this  is 
my  bod}^,  which  is  broken  for  you  :  this  do  in  remembrance 
of  me.  Likewise  also  he  took  the  cup,  when  he  had  supped, 
saying.  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood :  this 
do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me." 
Again  (ch.  xv.  1-7),  the  same  expression,  though  less  full, 
is  used  in  reference  to  another  class  of  facts  :  "  Brethren, 
I  declare  unto  you  the  gospel  which  I  preached  unto  you, 
which  also  ye  have  received.  .  .  .  For  I  delivered  unto 
you  first  of  all  that  which  I  also  received,  how  that  Christ 
died  for  onr  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures  ;  and  that  he 
was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third  day  according 
to  the  Scriptures ;  and  that  he  was  seen  of  Cephas,  and 
then  of  the  twelve  ;  after  that,  he  was  seen  of  above  five 
hundred  brethren  at  once ;  .  .  .  after  that,  he  was  seen 
of  James ;  then  of  all  the  Apostles."  Now  place  by  the 
side  of  these  statements  two  others,  taken  from  the  Epistles 
which  follow.  To  the  Galatians  he  saj^s  (ch.  i.  2,  12),  "  I 
certify  you,  brethren,  that  the  gospel  which  was  preached 
of  me  is  not  after  man  ;  for  /  neither  received  it  of  man,^ 
neither  tvas  I  taught  it,  hut  by  revelation''^  of  Jesus  Christ;  " 
and  to  the  Ephesians  (iii.  2,  3)  he  speaks  in  the  same 
strain,  though  with   less   emphatic   precision:  "Ye  have 

1  irapa  av9p<l>iToV  napiXapav,  2  3,*  aTrovaP.L^fWf. 


112         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  IV. 

heard  of  the  dispensation  of  the  grace  of  God,  given  to  me 
to  you-ward  :  how  that  hy  revelation  he  made  known  unto 
me  the  mystery."  ^ 

Between  the  first  and  the  second  of  these  pairs  of  texts  a 
very  remarkable  difference  appears.  In  the  first,  St.  Paul 
seems  to  represent  his  own  preaching  as  a  link  in  the  chain 
of  tradition,  "  I  received,"  "  I  delivered,"^ :  nor  yet  as  the 
first  link,  for  even  the  fuller  expression,  rendered  "I  re- 
ceived of  the  Lord,"  ^  does  not  so  fitly  import  an  immediate 
communication,  as  a  reception  of  that  which  had  originated 
from  the  Lord,  and  was  handed  down  by  his  command- 
ment.^^^  St.  Paul,  therefore,  here  appears  to  stand,  in 
respect  to  the  sources  of  his  information,  on  the  same  foot- 
ing as  the  Evangelist  who  was  associated  with  him,  and  to 
speak  of  the  facts  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  '^  even  as 
they  delivered  them  unto  us,*  who  from  the  beginning  were 
eye-witnesses  and  ministers  of  the  word."  On  the  other 
hand,  in  the  second  pair  of  statements,  the  contrary  asser- 
tion is  made,  namely,  that  his  gospel  was  not  received 
from  man,  nor  taught  by  man,  but  communicated  imme- 
diately by  revelation  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

The  state  of  the  case  thus  brought  to  light  is  in  exact 
accordance  with  the  view  which  is  here  taken  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  Lord  perfected  his  word.  The  Gospel  which 
the  Apostles  preached  was  a  combination  of  historic  facts 
with  their  spiritual  interpretations  ;  and  the  expression, 
"  Gospel  which  I  preached,"  is  used  by  St.  Paul  in  diflfer- 
ent  places  with  more  immediate  reference  to  the  one  or  the 
other  of  these  elements.     In  the  passages  from  the  Epistle 

KaTii  aiT0Kn7.v^iv  iyvwpiiyf  fioi  rb  fivaT'iO(ov.  2  TrapiXa(Sov,i:apt^wKa. 

3  dTTo  Tov  Kvpiov.  4  ^aOu}i  TraptSoirav  ,'miv. 


LeCT.  IV.    THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         113 

to  the  Corinthians  he  speaks  of  the  first  and  fundamental 
part  of  his  preaching,  referring  expressly  to  the  publication 
of  historic  facts  :. —  Christ  died  —  he  was  buried  — he  rose 
again  —  he  was  seen  of  Cephas,  &c.  On  the  same  night 
that  he  was  betrayed  he  took  bread  —  he  gave  thanks,  and 
brake  it  —  he  said,  Take,  eat,  &c. ;  and  we  learn  that  the 
Gospel,  as  a  body  of  historic  fact,  was  received  by  the 
Apostle  Paul,  as  by  all  others  who  had  not  seen  the  Lord 
in  the  flesh,  from  those  who  were  the  appointed  witnesses 
of  his  visible  manifestation.  In  the  two  latter  passages  it 
is  otherwise.  Not  the  historic  facts,  but  "  the  mystery '* 
connected  with  them,  is  spoken  of  (in  the  address  to  the 
Ephesians)  as  the  subject  of  the  revelation  received.  And 
the  Gospel  of  which  he  writes  to  the  Galatians  is  plainly 
not  thought  of  on  its  historical,  but  on  its  doctrinal  side. 
The  "  other  Gospel"  into  which  the  converts  were  "  being 
removed"  was  not  another  account  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  but 
another  set  of  inferences  connected  with  it.  When  he 
went  up  to  Jerusalem  by  revelation,  and  privately  commu- 
nicated to  those  of  reputation  "  the  Gospel  which  he 
preached  among  the  Gentiles,"  we  are  sure  that  he  laid 
before  them,  not  the  substance  of  the  history  which  we 
read  in  St.  Luke's  narrative,  but  the  substance  of  the  doc- 
trine which  is  embodied  in  his  own  Epistles.  The  whole 
argument  to  the  Galatians  turns  upon  the  doctrinal  element 
of  the  Gospel.  It  is  of  this,  therefore,  that  he  so  solemnly 
affirms  that  he  was  not  taught  it  by  agency  of  man,  but  re- 
ceived it  as  direct  revelation  from  the  Lord  ;  and  this 
aflfirmation  is  made,  not  merely  in  respect  of  the  gener^ 
doctrine,  but  specifically  of  those  parts  of  it  which  it  was 
given  to  him  to  develop  and  defend :  "  the  Gospel  which 
was  preached  by  me,"  —  "m?/  Gospel"  as  he  elsewhere 

10* 


114  THE    PROGUESS    OF    DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  IV. 

calls  it,  the  Gospel  under  that  particular  aspect  which  he 
admits  to  be  the  subject  of  extensive  doubt  and  complaint. 
The  part  in  the  progress  of  doctrine  committed  to  St.  Paul 
was  to  define,  to  settle,  and  to  carry  out  to  its  practical 
consequences  the  principle  of  free  justification  in  Christ, 
which  (as  a  principle)  was  acknowledged  and  held  before 
his  voice  was  lieard ;  and  we  learn  from  his  own  state- 
ments, that,  for  this  special  work,  not  only  a  special  com- 
mission, but  a  special  -revelation  was  given  him  by  the 
Lord  Jesus,  so  as  to  clear  and  settle  his  own  mind  on 
those  points  on  which  he  was  sent  to  clear  and  settle  the 
minds  of  others.  In  this  way  he  was  a  minister  and  a  wit- 
ness, not  of  those  things  which  he  had  heard  from  others, 
nor  of  those  things  which  he  had  only  thought  out  for  him- 
self, but  of  those  things  which  his  Lord  had  showed  him  in 
personal  visits  and  distinct  connnunications,  according  to 
the  announcement  made  at  the  first  commencement  of  this 
peculiar  intercourse,  "  I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this 
purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness,  both  of 
those  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things  in 
the  which  /  will  appear  unto  thee."  ^  No  !  he  was  not  only 
an  inspired  teacher  adorned  with  the  title  of  Apostle ;  he 
was  an  Apostle  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  a  com- 
missioned witness  to  others  of  direct  communications  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  himself;  one  appointed  to  confirm  to  others 
the  salvation  which,  in  his  own  hearing,  had  begun  to  be 
spoken  by  the  Lord. 

The  appearances  and  revelations  vouchsafed  to  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  are  thus  conspicuously  seen  to  con- 
nect themselves  with  the  agency  assigned  to  him  in  the 

^  Acts  XXVi.  16.     (if  Tt  tif^fj  iiv  Tt  d'pQr)ao^ai  aoi. 


LeCT.  IV.    THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         115 

progress  of  doctrine ;  and  the  more  carefully  we  examine 
his  history  and  weigh  his  language,  the  more  sensibly  do 
we  feel  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  that  great  fact,  on  the 
realit}^  of  which  the  faith  of  succeeding  ages  has  reposed, 
namel}^,  the  continued  personal  administration  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  in  founding  his  Church  and  perfecting  his  word. 

This  administration  was  manifested,  as  we  have  seen,  by 
selection  of  agents,  direction  of  events,  angelic  messages, 
visits  in  visions,  special  instructions,  and  distinct  revela- 
tions ;  5^et  these  numerous  interventions  do  not  constitute 
the  entire  system  of  divine  guidance,  or  even  the  chief  part 
of  it,  but  are  rather  to  be  regarded  as  additions  to  the  nor- 
mal method  of  administration  which  they  serve  both  to 
assist  and  authenticate. 

2.  The  normal  guidance  of  the  Apostles  by  their  Lord 
was  not  occasional,  but  Jiabitual,  not  through  separitte  in- 
terventions, but  through  the  Holy  Ghost  dwelling  in  them. 
So  the  promise  ran  that  it  should  be ;  and  so  in  fact 
it  was. 

The  Day  of  Pentecost  is  the  opening  of  the  second  period 
of  the  New  Testament  dispensation.  It  stands  alone,  as 
does  the  ^ay  which  now  we  call  Christmas :  the  one  the 
birthday  of  the  Lord,  the  other  the  birthday  of  his  Church ; 
the  one  proclaimed  by  praises  sung  by  hosts  in  heaven, 
the  other  by  praises  uttered  in  the  various  tongues  of 
earth.  That  change  is  significant :  for  now  the  Spirit 
conveys  the  true  knowledge  of  the  wonderful  works  of  God 
into  the  recesses  of  the  human  heart.  A  dispensation  is 
begun,  in  which  the  mind  of  God  has  entered  into  myste- 
rious combination  with  the  mind  of  man,  and  henceforth 
the  revealing  light  shines,  not  from  without,  but  from 
within. 


116  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  IV. 

"  O  God,  who  at  this  time  didst  teach  the  hearts  of  thy 
faithful  people  by  the  sending  to  them  the  light  of  thy 
Holy  Spirit !  "  So  speaks  the  Collect  for  Whitsunday ; 
and,  in  so  speaking,  seizes  at  once  the  central  idea  of  the 
event.  That  idea  is  often  imperfectly  apprehended  ;  for  in 
the  dispensation  of  the  vSpirit  there  is  so  much  that  is 
visible  on  its  surface,  that  our  thoughts  are  apt  to  be 
arrested  before  they  penetrate  to  its  centre.  Tongues  and 
prophecies,  and  signs  and  wonders,  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
dispensed  according  to  his  will,  are  visible  results  of  the 
event,  and  they  witness  to  the  Gospel  and  clear  its  way. 
Below  these  superadded  faculties,  we  are  conscious  of  a 
mighty  influence  in  the  region  of  the  emotions.  We  feel 
the  presence  of  that  comfort  and  strength,  of  that  glow  and 
fervor  and  joy,  by  which  we  see  the  men  animated  in  the 
exercise  of  their  new  powers,  and  hear  them  speak  with 
tongues  and  magnify  God.  But  we  must  go  further.  The 
new  powers  seem  as  it  were  born  from  the  new  impulses  ; 
but  whence  do  the  new  impulses  proceed?  Is  there  not  a 
cause  for  these  ?  Does  the  Holy  Spirit  limit  his  entrance 
into  man  to  the  region  of  emotion,  which  is  but  the  surface 
of  our  nature,  without  reaching  those  inner  springs  from 
which,  according  to  the  laws  of  that  nature,  the  emotions 
should  themselves  be  quickened!  No!  be  sure  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  has  occupied  the  heart  and  centre  of  our  being, 
and  that,  as  the  tongues  are  given  as  a  vent  for  the  fervor 
of  emotion,  so  the  fervor  of  emotion  has  its  own  origin  in 
a  sudden  access  of  intellectual  light.  New  apprehensions 
of  truth,  new  views  of  things,  which  those  thus  visited  had 
seen  but  had  not  understood,  now  burst  in  a  moment  on 
their  minds,  and  from  that  moment  continued  to  grow  more 
distinct  and  more  extended  before  their  now  enlightened 


Lect.  IY.         the  acts  of  the.  apostles.  117 

eye.  God  at  that  time  not  only  stirred,  but  taught^  the 
hearts  of  his  faithful  people,  and  sent  to  them  not  only  the 
warmth  but  "  the  light''  of  his  Holy  Spirit. 

If  this  had  not  been  so,  what  fulfilment  would  there  have 
been  of  those  promises  of  the  Lord  which  we  lately  recalled 
to  mind,  respecting  the  nature  and  effect  of  the  gift  which 
was  to  follow  his  departure  ?  He  told  his  Apostles  that 
the}^  should  "receive  power,"  and  he  told  them  that  they 
should  receive  "  comfort,"  but  we  have  seen  that  that  on 
which  he  chiefly"  dwelt  was  the  light  of  knoidedge  which 
should  rise  upon  their  minds.  "  In  that  day  ye  shall 
know  ;  "  "he  shall  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance  ; " 
"  he  shall  teach  you  all  things  ; "  "he  shall  guide  you  into 
all  truth  ;"  "he  shall  receive  of  mine  and  shall  show  it  unto 
3^ou."  These  are  plain  assertions.  It  is  enough  that  they 
were  made  by  him  who  gave  the  gift,  and  certainly  knew 
how  to  describe  it.  The  rehearsal  of  these  assertions  be- 
longed to  the  last  stage  of  our  inquir}' ;  the  evidence  of 
their  fulfilment  is  the  thing  before  us  now. 

Those  to  whom  these  promises  are  given  exhibit  at  the 
time  a  dimness  of  apprehension,  a  perplexit}'  and  disorder 
of  thought,  an  incapacity  to  understand  the  things  Avhich 
the}^  hear  and  see,  which  we,  enlightened  from  the  light 
which  they  afterwards  obtained,  most  unreasonably  count 
to  be  wonderful.  It  could  not  have  been  otherwise  with 
the  strongest  and  most  penetrating  intellects.  But  the  fact 
of  their  condition  of  mind  is  undoubted,  whether  we  ascribe 
it  to  personal  deficicnc}'  or  to  the  necessit}^  of  the  case. 

They  were  dealt  with  accordingl3\  From  the  moment 
when  they  saw  their  Lord  ascend,  tlicy  were  in  full  posses- 
sion of  all  the  external  facts  of  which  they  were  appointed 
to  bear  witness.     But  they  were  not  in  possession  of  the 


118  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  IV. 

spiritual  meaning,  relations,  and  consequences  of  those 
facts,  and  therefore  the  hour  of  their  testimony  was  not 
come,  and  the  interval  was  passed  not  in  preaching  but  in 
praj-er.  As  soon  as  the  promise  is  fulfilled  they  lift  up 
their  voice  and  speak.  Never  were  men  so  changed.  Who. 
does  not  note  the  accession  of  boldness,  faithfulness,  and 
fervor  !  But  these  are  not  separated  and  unsupported  gifts. 
The^^  manifestly  have  their  origin  in  the  certainty  of  assur- 
ance and  intensity  of  conviction.  The  "  boldness  "  ^  pro- 
ceeds from  "  a  full  assurance  ;"  ^  according  as  it  is  written, 
"  I  believed  and  therefore  have  I  spoken,  these  also  believe 
and  therefore  speak."  Their  clear,  firm  testimony  rises  in  a 
moment  before  the  world,  never  hesitating  or  wavering, 
never  to  sink  or  change  again,  onl}^  manifesting  more  fully, 
as  time  advances,  the  largeness  of  its  compass  and  the  defi- 
niteness  of  its  announcements.  Ever  after  they  speak  as 
men  would  do  who  were  conscious  of  a  ground  of  certainty 
which  could  not  be  questioned,  who  could  say  that  things 
"  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  them  ;  "  ^  that  their 
word  was  "  not  the  word  of  man  but  the  word  of  God  ;"* 
that  it  was  "the  Spirit  that  bore  witness;"^  that  they 
"  preached  the  Gospel  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from 
heaven;"^  that  "things  which  eye  had  not  seen  nor  ear 
heard,  and  which  had  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  had 
been  revealed  to  them  by  the  Spirit,  which  searcheth  the 
deep  things  of  God;"  that  they  "had  received,  not  the 
spirit  which  is  of  the  world,  but  the  Spirit  which  is  of  God, 
that  they  might  know  the  tilings  which  are  freely  given  of 

1   rrnporioia.  2   i:Xt]po(popia. 

8  Acts  XV.  28.  ■*  1  Thess.  ii.  13. 

fi  1  John  V.  6.  6  1  Pet.  i.  12. 


LeCT.  rV.     THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.        119 

God ;"  that  they  "spoke  these  things,  not  in  words  which 
man's  wisdom  taught,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  taught ;  " 
and  that  they  "  could  be  judged  of  no  man,"  because  "  none 
knew  the  mind  of  the  Lord  so  as  to  instruct  him,  and  thej^ 
had  the  mind  of  Christ."  ^  It  is  enough.  The  three  testi- 
monies concur  —  the  testimony  of  him  who  gave  the  Spirit, 
the  testimony  of  those  who  received  it,  and  the  testimony 
of  the  facts  which  ensued  on  its  reception. 

Are  we  then  at  a  loss  to  know  what  was  the  nature  of  the 
gift  which  the  Holy  Spirit  brought  for  the  purposes  of  the 
apostolic  work?  Certainly  it  was  vast  and  various  —  "a 
sevenfold  gift ; "  but  its  most  essential  part  lay  not  in 
tongues  and  powers  which  witnessed  to  the  Gospel,  not  in 
the  fervor  and  boldness  which  preached  it,  rather  it  ivas  the 
Gospel  itself. 

The  Gospel  which  the  Apostles  preached  consisted  of  two 
elements,  a  testimony  of  external  facts  which  fell  within  the 
region  of  the  senses,  and  a  testimony  of  the  virtue  of  those 
facts  in  the  predestined  government  of  God,  and  of  the  con- 
sequences of  them  in  the  spiritual  history  of  men,  neither 
of  which  was  it  possible  for  the  senses  to  certify.  For  the 
first  testimony  they  needed  but  a  clear  and  faithful  memory. 
For  the  second  also  the  same  faculty  would  sufl3ce,  but  only 
up  to  a  certain  point ;  namel}^  as  far  as  they  had  received 
and  understood  the  exposition  of  transcendental  truth  from 
the  lips  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  But  we  have  seen  that  the  sal- 
vation only  began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord,  and  that  he 
himself  asserted  that  it  would  not  be  fully  revealed  by  him, 
or  understood  by  them,  until  the  Spirit  came.  If  the  Spirit 
on  his  coming  did  not  complete  that  revelation,  then  the 

1  1  Cor.  ii.  9-16. 


120  THE    TROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  IV. 

Gospel  which  the  Apostles  preached  must  have  been,  in 
some  of  its  most  important  features,  partly  a  word  of  God 
and  partly  a  word  of  man.  Their  witness  of  the  death,  and 
resurrection,  and  ascension  of  Jesus  would  demand  an  un- 
qualified acceptance,  but  their  representation  of  the  sacrifi- 
cial character  and  atoning  merits  of  the  death,  of  the  life- 
giving  power  of  the  resurrection,  and  of  the  meditorial  office 
in  heaven ,  would  be  the  result  of  their  own  inferences  from 
the  words  which  they  had  gleaned  from  their  Lord ;  and, 
instead  of  being  judged  of  no  man,  they  would  be  judged  of 
ever}^  man  who  could  take  a  different  view  of  the  words 
which  they  repeated  from  that  which  they  had  taken  them- 
selves.^^^  Thus  the  whole  system  of  their  doctrine  would 
stand  (like  the  image  in  the  dream)  on  feet  part  of  iron 
and  part  of  cla}'-,  and  would  not  w^ait  long  for  the  hour  of 
its  overthrow.  But  he  who,  in  the  face  of  all  which  has  been 
now  recalled  to  mind,  should  still  treat  their  doctrine  in  this 
light,  would  plainly  accuse  of  falsehood,  not  only  the  men, 
but  their  Lord  himself ;  who,  if  he  spoke  true  when  he  gave 
them  the  Spirit,  led  them  thereby  "  into  all  the  truth."  The 
guarantees  for  this  fact  could  hardly  have  been  plainer  or 
stronger  than  they  are.  We  thank  God  that  he  has  pro- 
vided them,  and  we  pass  into  the  second  stage  of  New  Tes- 
tament teaching  with  adequate  assurances  that  he  who  be- 
fore taught  us  on  earth,  now  teaches  us  from  heaven,  and 
that  we  still  "hear  him  and  are  taught  in  Mmy 

II.  We  have  not  then  changed  our  teacher,  but  lie  has 
changed  his  method :  and  I  have  now  to  point  out  the  rea- 
sons of  the  change,  by  showing  that  it  was  fitted  to  conduct 
the  advance  of  doctrine  from  the  point  at  which  it  had  then 
arrived. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  change  was  simply  a,  matter  of 


LecT.  IV.     THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         121 

necessity,  because  he  who  had  spoken  with  his  lips  was  now 
to  be  received  up  into  gloiy,  and  could  no  longer  talk  with 
his  servants  on  earth.  But  though  the  change  might  be 
necessar}^,  it  was  also  "expedient"  —  expedient  for  them. 
So  he  represents  it  to  his  mourning  and  perplexed  disciples, 
and  adds  the  support  of  a  strong  asseveration.  "  Never- 
theless I  tell  3'ou  the  truth,  it  is  good  for  3'ou  that  I  go 
awa)^ ;  for  if  I  go  not  away  the  Comforter  will  not  come 
unto  3^ou."  ^  The  change  then  takes  place  as  an  advantags 
to  those  who  are  subjected  to  it.  For  them  a  stage  of  reve- 
lation hT?s  come  which  demands  a  method  of  teaching  more 
penetrating  and  internal  than  that  which  they  had  till  then 
enjoyed. 

It  is  in  this  character  that  the  superiorit}'  of  the  later 
method  consists,  as  is  pointed  out  by  the  plain  distinction, 
"  He  dwelleth  imtli  j^ou,  and  shall  be  in  j^ou."  Here  are 
two  methods  appropriated  to  the  two  stages  of  New  Testa- 
ment teaching :  and  it  is  clear  as  daj''  that  the  second  is  an 
advance  upon  the  first.  In  the  one,  the  teaching  power  is 
separated  from,  and  external  to,  the  mind  which  is  being 
taught ;  in  the  other,  it  is  interfused  and  commingled  with 
it.  The  words,  in  the  one,  are  divine  announcements  fitted 
to  form  the  apprehensions  of  man ;  the  words,  in  the  other, 
are  expressions  of  human  apprehensions  alread}''  formed 
under  the  divine  agency.  The  teaching  power  has  thus 
changed  its  method,  in  order  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  a 
more  diflicult  stage  of  instruction. 

The  facts  are  finished  when  Jesus  is  glorified  ;  the  mani- 
festation of  the  Son  of  God  is  perfect,  the  redemption  is 

iJohnxvi.  7. 
11 


122         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRIXE.     LeCT.  IV. 

accomplished,  and  the  conditions  of  human  salvation  are 
complete. 

The  histoiy  must  now  be  treated  as  a  whole,  of  which  the 
plan  and  purpose  have  become  apparent.  The  time  is  come 
for  the  full  interpretation  of  the  facts,  of  their  effects  in  the 
world  of  sj^irit,  and  of  their  results  in  human  consciousness. 

A  doctrine  then  is  needed,  which  shall  sum  up  the  whole 
bearing  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  which  shall  throw  a 
full  light  on  its  spiritual  effects,  and  which  shall  guide  the 
minds  of  men  in  their  application  of  it  to  themselves.  Such 
a  doctrine  might  be  given  from  God  in  one  of  two  ways : 
bj^  voices  from  heaven,  declaring  what  view  men  ougid  to 
take  of  the  historj^  which  had  passed  before  them,  and  what 
their  faith  and  feelings  ought  to  be  concerning  it ;  or  by 
voices  from  men  themselves,  expressing  the  view  which  they 
did  take,  and  the  faith  and  feelings  which  were  actually  in 
their  hearts.  In  the  one  case,  we  should  have  Apostles,  who 
would  be  to  us  the  messengers  of  God,  only  while  they  tes- 
tified that  the}"  had  received  such  and  such  revelations,  and 
while  the}^  recited  those  revelations  to  us  word  for  word ; 
but  all  their  other  words  would  come  to  us  on  their  own 
merits,  as  simpl}"  the  words  of  hol}^  and  enlightened  men. 
In  the  other  case,  we  should  have  Apostles,  whose  represen- 
tations of  their  own  view  of  all  which  they  had  heard  and 
seen,  whose  expositions  of  their  own  convictions  and  feel- 
ings, and  of  the  processes  of  their  own  thoughts  concerning 
the  things  of  Christ,  would  be  to  us  so  many  revelations 
from  God  of  what  he  intended  to  be  the  result  of  the  mani- 
festation of  his  Son  in  human  hearts. 

Who  does  not  see  that  this  kind  of  teaching  would  ex- 
ceed the  other  in  completeness  and  effectiveness  ?  It  would 
be  more  complete ;  for  we  should  thus  have  the  word  pre- 


Lect.  IY.        the  acts  of  the  apostles.  123 

seiited  to  us  in  the  final  form  which  it  was  meant  to  take, 
that,  namelj',  of  a  loord  dwelling  in  us —  a  divine  announce- 
ment changed  ah'eady  into  a  human  experience.  It  would 
be  more  effective ;  inasmuch  as  example  is  more  so  than 
precept,  and  the  same  voice,  being  to  us  both  the  voice 
of  God  and  the  voice  of  man,  would  affect  our  hearts  with 
the  double  power  of  certainty  and  sympath3^  Such  a 
method  of  teaching  could  only  be  possible  under  some 
system  of  divine  action  which  should  fuse  into  one  the 
thoughts  of  God  and  the  thoughts  of  man ;  and  this  was 
effected  by  the  gift  of  the  Hol}^  Ghost  to  the  Apostles  for 
the  work  whereto  they  were  called. 

I  say  for  the  icorJc  whereto  they  v'ere  called^  for  the  same 
Spirit  is  diverse  in  operation,  and  divides  to  every  man 
severally  as  he  will.  When  the  Church  was  anointed 
from  above,  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  pervaded  her 
whole  frame,  "  like  the  precious  ointment  on  the  head, 
which  ran  down  upon  the  beard,  even  upon  Aaron's  beard, 
and  went  down  to  the  skirts  of  his  garments."  Even  "  on 
the  servants  and  on  the  handmaids  "  did  the  Lord  pour  out 
of  his  Spirit,  and  the  supernatural  presence  was  disclosed 
in  a  vast  scale  of  various  gifts,  ranging  from  that  which 
was  intense  and  supreme  to  that  which  was  superficial  and 
ancillary.  But  we  speak  now  of  that  which  was  supreme. 
^' First  Apostles"  The  ointment  is  poured  first  upon  the 
head ;  and  from  thence  the  glittering  drops  descend  upon 
the  raiment.  All  the  members  have  not  the  same  office  :  — 
Are  all  apostles?  No!  the  authorities,  standards,  and 
types  of  truth  are  so  by  direct  commission,  and  the  gift 
which  they  receive  is  one  which  makes  them  so  indeed. 
As  the  oflSce,  so  is  the  gift.  An  incommunicable  office  has 
an  incommunicable  gift.     An  office  which  is  to  be  solitary 


124  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  IV. 

and  supreme  in  the  Church  forever  has  a  gift  adequate  to 
secure  the  implicit  confidence  of  long-descending  ages. 

Voices  may  be  heard  among  us  now  which  tend  to  im- 
pair that  confidence ;  complaints  of  the  distinctive  use  of 
the  w^ord  "  inspiration,"  as  applied  to  the  Scripture  writers, 
assertions  that  ''  the  Scriptures  are  before,  and  above  all 
things,  the  voice  of  the  congregation." 

On  what  do  these  complaints  and  assertions  rest?  On 
the  true  conviction,  that,  in  all  the  Church,  and  in  all  ages, 
there  is  the  presence  of  the  same  Spirit.  Yes  !  and  on  the 
false  assumption,  that  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit  are  to  all  the 
same  gifts.  There  is  no  principle  in  the  Bible  more  clear, 
than  that  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit  are  diverse,  and  are,  in 
character  and  proportion,  adapted  to  the  works  which  God 
assigns,  and  appropriated  to  the  offices  which  he  creates. 
Now  it  is  certainly  one  thing  to  be  a  member,  and  another 
thing  to  be  a  founder,  of  the  church.  It  is  one  thing  to 
receive  or  to  propagate  the  truth,  and  another  to  deliver  it 
with  the  authority  of  God,  and  to  certify  it  to  the  world 
forever. 

The  same  clear  view  of  the  way  of  salvation,  and  of  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  which  gladdened  the  soul  of 
St.  Paul,  might  gladden  the  soul  of  one  who  heard  his 
words,  and  may  now  gladden  the  soul  of  one  who  reads 
them.  For  both  there  is  the  same  Spirit  and  the  same 
testimony  ;  but  the  Spirit  is  given  to  the  one,  that  he  may 
originate  that  testimony  ;  to  the  other,  that  he  ma}^  receive 
it.  There  is  a  difference  between  being  builded  into  the 
holy  temple,  which  is  the  habitation  of  God  through  the 
Spirit,  and  being  constituted  a  foundation,  on  which  the 
future  building  is  to  rise  at  first  and  to  rest  forever.  Such 
was  the  separate  function  of  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord  and 


Lect.  IV.    THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         125 

Saviour,  a  function  which  they  shared  with  the  special 
messengers  of  God  who  went  before  them,  and  even  with 
their  Lord  himself.  "Ye  are  built,"  said  they  to  their 
brethren,  —  "  Ye  are  built  on  the  foundation  of  the  Apos- 
tles and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief 
corner-stone."  ^  The  corner-stone  is  but  part  of  the  founda- 
tion, though  it  be  the  first  and  the  chief  part ;  and  this 
consolidation  of  the  comer-stone  with  the  adjacent  founda- 
tions, as  one  basement  to  sustain  the  building,  exhibits  in 
the  plainest  manner  the  fact,  that  the  Church,  in  respect  of 
itsfaitJi,  rests  upon  a  testimony  which  was  delivered,  partly 
by  Jesus  Christ  in  person,  and  partly  by  the  agents  whom 
for  that  purpose  he  ordained.  Their  inspiration  as  be- 
lievers associates  them  with  the  whole  Church ;  their 
inspiration  as  teacliers  unites  them  only  with  their  Lord. 

The  consciousness  of  this  position  appears  in  the  records 
of  their  preaching,  and  breathes  through  all  their  writings 
a  lofty  and  unyielding  authorit3\  They  speak  as  men 
having  the  Spirit  to  those  to  whom  it  is  also  given,  yet  as 
men  empowered  to  deliver  the  truth  which  the  others  were 
only  enabled  to  receive.  St.  Paul  addresses  himself  to 
"  those  that  are  spiritual,"  but  he  shows  them  that  it  is  he^ 
and  not  they,  who  is  "put  in  trust  with  the  Gospel,"  and 
that  the  word  which  he  utters  is  one  to  which  thej'  can  add 
nothing,  and  in  which  they  can  change  nothing.  St.  John 
exhorts  those  "  who  have  an  unction  from  the  Hoh^  One," 
but  as  having  himself  a  kind  of  anointing  in  which  they 
do  not  share,  whereby  he  delivers  the  "  message,"  and  the 
"  witness,"  and  the  "commandment,"  which  they  on  their 
part  recognize   and  accept.     No !  the  voice  that   sounds 


lEph.  li.  20. 
11* 


120  THE    PROGRESS    OF    DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  IV. 

from  these  pages  is  not  the  voice  of  the  congregation,  but 
the  voice  of  those  who  founded  it  by  the  will  of  God  ;  and 
that  character  the  congregation  itself  has  asserted  for  the 
word  in  all  ages.  The  written  word  has  been  the  canon  of 
the  Church,  because  it  was  a  voice  which  came  to  it,  not 
because  it  was  a  voice  which  proceeded /rom  it.^^^^ 

To  us  at  this  day  this  word  has  come  ;  and  to  us  at  this 
day  the  anointing  from  the  Holy  One  flows  down.  For 
you,  for  me  (thank  God ! )  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit 
remains.  It  remains  for  the  servants  and  the  handmaids  : 
and  many  an  obscure  and  lowly  brother  in  the  streets 
around  us  can  say  for  himself,  as  truly  as  St.  Paul  could 
sa}^  ''  I  have  received  the  Spirit  that  is  of  God,  that  I  may 
know  the  things  which  are  freely  given  to  me  of  God." 
But  one  who  thus  speaks  can  know  that  his  convictions  are 
really  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit  of  God  only  in  so  far  as 
the}^  correspond  with  the  eternal  types  of  truth,  which 
ascertain  to  us  what  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit  is.  Now, 
as  in  those  apostolic  days,  he  which  is  spiritual  can  show 
that  he  is  so  only  "  by  acknowledging  that  the  things 
which "  those  appointed  teachers  "  wrote  to  us  are  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord ; "  for  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  others  is  not  a  gift  whereby  they  originate  the 
knowledge  of  new  truths,  but  a  gift  whereby  they  recog- 
nize and  apprehend  the  old  unchanging  m^'stery,  still 
receiving  afresh  the  one  revelation  of  Christ,  ever  approach- 
ing, never  surpassing  the  comprehensive  but  immovable 
boundaries  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  This 
is  the  gift,  the  only  gift,  which  we  desire  for  our  Church 
and  for  ourselves ;  for  it  is  one  which  makes  the  written 
word  a  living  word,  which  fills  a  Church  with  joy,  and  seals 
a  soul  for  glory. 


LECTURE    Y. 

THE   ACTS   OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

THEY  CEASED  NOT  TO  TEACH  AND  PREACH  JESUS  CHRIST.  —  JctS  V.  42. 

Jesus  Christ  is  gone  up  into  glory,  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
has  come  down  into  men :  and  we  have  seen  that  these 
events  are  represented  to  us,  not  as  closing  the  course  of 
revelation,  but  as  opening  a  new  stage  of  it.  The  ques- 
tions which  met  us  on  the  threshold  have  been  answered, 
and  we  go  forward  with  the  full  assurance  that  our  first 
teacher  is  our  teacher  still,  and  that  his  second  method  of 
instruction  is  an  advance  upon  the  first. 

We  have  now  to  ask,  first.  What  change  appears  in  the 
aspect  of  the  doctrine?  ar^d  then.  What  is  the  plan  on  which, 
it  continues  to  advance? 

For  a  reply  to  these  questions  I  address  myself  to  that 
introductory  boo'xi  which  gives  us  the  external  history  of 
this  part  of  the  dispensation  of  truth.  It  is  not  the  func- 
tion of  a  historical  record  to  work  out  expositions  of  doc- 
trine, but  such  a  book  may  be  expected  to  present  the 
general  character  which  the  doctrine  bore,  and  to  clear  to 
our  view  the  agencies  and  the  stages  by  which  it  was  matured. 
This  is  precisely  what  is  done  in  the  book  of  Acts.  It  is 
the  purpose  of  the  book  to  do  it ;  a  purpose  which  ought  to 
be  more  fully  recognized  than  it  is. 

There  are  works  which  are  done  with  so  natural  and 
gTaceful  a  facility,  that  it  seems  to  the  superficial  observer 
as  if  any  one  could  have  done  them,  or  as  if  he  who  did 

127 


128         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  V. 

them  was  only  guided  by  casual  impulse,  while  a  more 
careful  student  Avill  perceive  that  singular  gifts  were  neces- 
sarj^  to  produce  the  results  which  seem  so  easy,  and  that  a 
comprehensive  design  and  an  accurate  judgment  presided 
over  arrangements  which  appear  fortuitous.  Such  a  work 
is  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  In  a  narrative  all  alive  with 
graphic  details,  and  written  in  a  style  of  animated  sim- 
plicity and  natural  ease,  it  carries  us  through  a  period  of 
human  history  of  incalculable  interest  and  importance : 
one  in  which  the  effects  of  the  manifestation  of  the  Son  of 
God  were  developed  and  tested  ;  in  which  the  life  which  he 
had  introduced  among  men  disclosed  its  nature  and  power, 
and  the  truth  which  he  had  left  commenced  its  struggles 
and  conquests  ;  in  which  the  Christian  Church  was  consti- 
tuted, gradually  detached  from  its  Jewish  integuments, 
and  brought  to  the  consciousness  of  its  freedom  and  catho- 
licity ;  in  which  it  verified  its  credentials,  proved  its  arms, 
recognized  its  destinies,  and  commenced  its  victories ;  in 
which  impulses  were  given  which  would  never  cease  to 
vibrate  and  precedents  were  established  to  which  distant 
ages  would  refer ;  in  which  solemn  and  exciting  scenes, 
marvels  and  miracles,  saintly  and  heroic  characters,  their 
labors,  their  conflicts,  their  sufferings,  their  journeyings, 
their  collisions  with  all  classes  of  men,  seem  to  force  upon 
the  historian  a  confusing  multiplicity  of  materials.  Yet 
through  all  this  he  makes  his  way  straight  in  one  direction, 
as  a  man  guided  by  that  instinct  of  selection  which  belongs 
to  the  ruling  presence  of  a  definite  purpose.  It  is  just  this 
definiteness  of  purpose  which  is  apt  to  pass  unobserved. 
It  is  nowhere  announced,  and  the  unconstrained  freedom  of 
manner  and  easy  inartificial  stjde  suggest  no  thought  of  it. 
We  seem  sometimes  to  be  reading  a  collection  of  anecdotes 


Lect.  V.      THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         129 

or  personal  memoirs  of  certain  Apostles,  and  some  critics 
have  dealt  with  the  book  as  if  indeed  it  were  but  a  chance 
collection  of  stories  with  which  the  author  had  happened  to 
become  acquainted,  or  as  if  a  fragment  of  the  acts  of  St. 
Peter  had  been  prefixed  to  a  journal  of  the  travels  of 
St.  Paul. 

But  we  know  St.  Luke's  intelligent,  inquiring  mind,  his 
opportunities  of  information,  his  "  perfect  understanding 
of  all  things  from  the  very  first,"  his  personal  intercourse 
with  those  "  who  from  the  beginning  had  been  eye-witnesses 
and  ministers  of  the  word."  We  cannot  for  a  moment 
suppose  that  his  acquaintance  with  the  "  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles "  was  limited  to  the  facts  recorded  in  the  book ;  that 
he  knew  nothing  of  the  proceedings  of  John  or  James,  or 
of  the  manifold  movements  and  events  which  were  going 
on  by  the  side  of  those  which  he  has  related.  In  fact,  there 
is  not  a  book  upon  earth  in  w^hich  the  principle  of  inten- 
tional selection  is  more  evident  to  a  careful  observer. 
There  is  indeed  no  reason  given  why  one  speech  is  re- 
ported and  one  event  related  at  length,  in  preference  to 
others  which  are  passed  over  or  slightly  touched ;  yet 
when  we  reach  the  conclusion  we  see  the  reasons  in  the 
result.  We  find  that  b}^  an  undeviating  course  we  have 
followed  the  development  of  the  true  idea  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  in  its  relations  first  to  the  Jewish  system,  out  of 
which  it  emerges,  and  then  to  the  great  world,  to  which  it 
opens  itself.  When  the  words  and  deeds  of  Philip  or 
Stephen,  of  Peter  or  Paul,  are  implicated  with  this  progress 
of  things,  we  find  ourselves  in  their  company,  but  when  we 
part  from  St.  Peter  without  notice  of  his  after-course,  when 
we  leave  St.  Paul  abruptly  at  the  commencement  of  his  two 
years  in  Pome,  we  are  given  to  understand  that  we  have  been 


130  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  V. 

reading,  not  their  personal  memoirs,  but  a  higher  history, 
which  certain  portions  of  their  careers  serve  to  embody  or 
to  illustrate.  Even  when  the  book  is  considered  by  itself, 
the  unity  and  completeness  of  the  result  is  plain ;  but 
when  we  look  at  it  in  its  place  in  Scripture,  observe  its 
function  there,  and  its  relation  to  the  books  which  follow, 
we  see  most  clearly  the  definite  purpose  with  which  it 
places  us  and  keeps  us  in  that  particular  line  of  historical 
fact  which  involves  the  progress  of  doctrine. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  is  claiming  too  much  ;  for  thai, 
whatever  amount  of  design  ma}^  be  attributed  to  the  author 
of  the  "  Acts,"  we  cannot  ascribe  to  him  the  prophetic  pur- 
pose of  fitting  his  book  to  its  present  place  in  Scripture. 
No,  certainly  not  to  him ;  but  the  Church  has  ever  held 
that  another  Mind  presided  over  what  was  written  in 
these  pages,  a  Mind  which  purposed  that  we  should  have  a 
Bible,  and  which,  guiding  the  production  of  its  component 
parts,  has  made  it  what  it  is. 

I  speak  in  accordance  with  this  view  of  Scripture  when 
I  ask,  "What  is  the  office  which  the  book  of  Acts  fulfils  in 
the  evolution  of  doctrine  in  the  New  Testament? 

For  a  reply  to  this  question  I  would  point  to  three  results 
which  the  book  unquestionably  yields. 

1.  It  places  in  the  clearest  light  the  divine  authority  of 
the  doctrine  given  during  the  period  which  it  covers,  as  a 
doctrine  delivered  b}^  those  who,  for  that  particular  pur- 
pose, were  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  were  agents  of 
the  personal  administration  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
This,  the  first  and  most  important  part  of  the  office  of  the 
book,  has  been  considered  in  the  last  Lecture. 

2.  It  represents  the  general  character  of  the  doctrine 
delivered  by  the  Apostles  to  the  world. 


LeCT.  V.      THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         131 

3.  It  traces  the  steps  of  external  history  through  which  the 
doctrine  was  matured. 

These  are  the  parts  of  its  office  on  which  I  have  now  to 
dwell. 

I.  The  general  character  of  the  doctrine  as  it  appears  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  is  presented  in  the  words  of  the 
text,  "  They  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  the 
Christ." ^  Similar  expressions  continually  recur :  "he 
preached  Christ  unto  them;"^  "he  preached  unto  him 
Jesus ;"  ^  "he  preached  Christ  in  the  synagogues;"* 
they  "  spake  unto  the  Grecians  preaching  the  Lord  Jesus  ; "  ^ 
"  he  preached  unto  them  Jesus  and  the  resurrection."  ^  No 
such  announcements  as  these  are  heard  in  the  Gospels. 
The  preaching  spoken  of  there  is  not  of  the  person  but  of 
the  kingdom.  Jesus  comes  "preaching  the  kingdom  of 
God;"^  "preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom;"^  and 
his  parables  and  common  teaching  are  not  prominently 
about  himself,  but  about  "the  kingdom  of  heaven."  So 
also  his  disciples  are  sent  out  "  to  preach  the  kingdom  of 
God,"  and  are  even  charged  to  "  tell  no  man  that  he  was 
Jesus  the  Christ,"  ^  and  are  forbidden  to  publish  the  mani- 
festation of  the  fact  "  until  the  Son  of  Man  be  risen  again 
from  the  dead."^*^  And  because  of  the  absence  of  this  per- 
sonal proclamation  by  himself  or  his  servants,  we  find  John 
the  Baptist  troubled  and  perplexed,  and  sending  a  deputa- 
tion of  his  followers  in  the  hope  of  extracting  such  a  pub- 
lic declaration  ;  and  the  multitude  at  a  later  time  complain. 

*  ovK  knavovro  6t6uaKOvreg  Kal  evayye2,L^6{ievoL  'Itjgouv  rbv  'KpiOTov. 
2  Acts  viii.  5.  ^  i^id,  35.  4  ibi(j.  j^.  20. 

6  Acts  xi.  20.  «  Ibid.  xvii.  18.      '  Luke  ix.  2. 

8  Matt.  iv.  23,  and  Mark  i.  14.  »  Matt.  xvi.  20. 

10  Matt.  xvii.  9. 


132         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  V. 

"How  long  dost  thou  make  us  to  doubt?  If  thou  be  the 
Christ,  tell  us  plainly  ;  "  ^  and  the  High  Priest,  at  the  very 
last,  unable  to  obtain  testimony  to  such  a  public  claim,  is 
compelled  to  resort  to  adjuration  —  "Art  thou  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  Blessed?"  ^ 

The  change  in  the  ]?e3^-note  of  the  preaching  is  very  sig- 
nificant. Things  had  been  tending  towards  it..  The  pre- 
sentation of  Christ  to  men  had  been  going  forward,  and  the 
scheme  on  which  it  is  set  before  us  in  the  Gospel  collection 
marks  the  gradual  manner  in  which  the  eye,  looking  for  the 
kingdom,  had  come  to  be  fixed  upon  the  person.  In  the 
teaching  of  the  first  Gospel  the  idea  of  the  kingdom,  in  that 
of  the  last  the  idea  of  the  person,  is  predominant.  In  the 
Acts  the  two  expressions  are  sometimes  united,  as  when  the 
Samaritans  "  believed  Philip  preaching  the  things  concern- 
ing the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  : "  ^ 
and  yet  again,  with  more  evident  purpose,  in  the  end  of  the 
book,  where  Paul's  exposition  to  the  Jews  at  Rome  stands 
as  the  last  appeal  to  that  people  —  "To  whom  he  ex- 
pounded, testif^'ing  the  kingdom  of  God  and  persuading 
them  concerning  Jesus  :  "  and  yet  again  in  the  closing  verse, 
which  describes  the  two  3^ears'  continuous  ministry  b}"  the 
words  "preaching  Jhe  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those 
things  which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  ^     Evidently 

1  John  X.  24.  2  Mark  xiv.  61.  ^  Acts  viii.  12. 

*  Acts  xxviii.  23,  31.  Atafxaprvpoixevog  ttjv  ftaaL%eiav  tov  Qeov,  TreldtJV 
re  avTovg  tu  ixepl  tov  'Irjaov.  (ver  23.)  KjjpvaoLjv  t^v  (SaaLleiav  rov  Qeov, 
KOI  diddoKuv  TU  TTEpl  TOV  KvpLov  'lj]Gov.  (vcr.  31.)  Compare  this  sum- 
mary of  the  apostolic  teaching  at  the  end  of  the  book  with  the 
summary  of  the  last  teaching  of  Jesus  at  its  beginning :  6i'  rjfzepuv 
TsaaapuKOVTa  oTZTavofievog  avTolg  koi  ?Jyo)v  tu  nepl  r^f  (3aai7u;lac  tov  Qeov 


LeCT.  V.  THE    ACTS    OF   THE    APOSTLES.  133 

on  purpose  are  the  two  expressions  combined  in  this  final 
summar}',  in  order  to  show  that  the  preaching  of  the  king- 
dom and  the  preaching  of  Christ  are  one  :  that  the  original 
proclamation  has  not  ceased,  but  that  in  Christ  Jesus  the 
thing  proclaimed  is  no  longer  a  vague  and  future  hope,  but 
a  distinct  and  present  fact.  In  the  conjunction  of  these 
words  the  progress  of  doctrine  appears.  All  is  fonnde  1 
upon  the  old  Jewish  expectation  of  a  kingdom  of  God  ;  but 
it  is  now  explained  how  that  expectation  is  fulfilled  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  ;  and  the  account  of  its  realization  con- 
sists in  the  unfolding  of  the  truth  concerning  him,  "the 
things  concerning  Jesus."  ^  The  manifestation  of  Christ 
being  finished,  the  kingdom  is  already  begun.  Those  who 
receive  liim  enter  into  it.  Having  overcome  the  sharpness 
of  death,  he  has  opened  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  be- 
lievers. Those,  therefore,  who  were  once  to  "  tell  no  man 
that  he  was  Christ,"  are  now  to  make  "  all  the  house  of 
Israel  know  assuredly  that  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus, 
whom  they  had  crucified,  both  Lord  and  Christ ; "  yea,  they 
are  to  proclaim  that  fact  to  ever}''  nation  under  heaA^en. 

It  is,  I  apprehend,  by  this  change  in  the  character  of  the 
preaching,  that  we  are  to  explain  the  surprising  diflference 
in  the  effect  of  the  preaching,  as  seen  in  the  Gospels  and  in 
the  Acts.  For  some  three  j-ears,  probabl}',  did  Jesus  preach 
in  the  Temple,  in  synagogues,  in  houses,  on  the  seashore, 
and  by  the  wayside  ;  y^t  it  is  obviousl}-  but  a  scant}^  band 
of  professed  believers  whom  he  leaves  upon  the  earth,  and 
these  too  appear  possessed  but  with  a  dubious  and  uncer- 

"  during  forty  days  appearing  to  them  and  speaking  the  things 
concerning  the  kingdom  of  God." 
*  Tu  nepl  Tov  ^IijGov. 
12 


134  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  V. 

tain  faith.  On  occasion  of  an  important  gatliering  in  Jeru- 
salem, "  the  number  of  names  together  were  about  an  hun- 
dred and  twenty."  ^  The  largest  number  we  ever  hear  of 
is  that  mentioned  by  St.  Paul  —  "above  five  hundred  breth- 
ren at  once ; "  ^  and  of  these,  according  to  St.  Matthew, 
"  some  doubted."  ^  But  a  few  days  later  Peter  lifts  up  his 
voice,  and  "  the  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them 
about  three  thousand  souls."  "^  And  so  the  word  grows  and 
multiplies,  till  we  hear  of  "  a  great  company  of  priests 
obedient  to  the  faith," ^  and  "many  thousands®  of  Jews 
which  believe  ; "  ^  besides  the  suddenly-rising,  rapid l3'-grow- 
ing  Churches  in  all  parts  of  the  Gentile  world.  Men  have 
sometimes  expressed  their  wonder  at  this  difference  in  the 
effect  of  the  Lord's  own  preaching  and  of  that  of  his  disci- 
ples ;  and  they  have  been  fain  to  ascribe  it  to  the  outpour- 
ing of  the  Spirit,  which  wrought  a  sudden  change  in  the 
hearts  of  the  hearers.  But  we  have  no  encouragement  to 
suppose  that  the  three  thousand  who  believed  on  the  da}^  of 
Pentecost  received  any  specicd  gift  of  the  Spirit  (such  as 
originated  on  that  day)  until  after  they  believed.  This  was 
promised  by  the  Apostle  as  a  gift,  not  preceding,  but  ensu- 
ing on  their  baptism.  "  Repent,"  said  he,  "  and  be  bap- 
tized every  one  of  3'ou  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye 
shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  No  !  It  is  not 
on  the  hearers,  but  on  the  preachers  that  the  mighty  influ- 
ence is  said  to  have  come.  The  true  reason  for  the  change 
in  the  effect  of  the  doctrine  is  found  in  the  change  which 
had  passed  upon  the  doctrine  itself,  when  "  the  Spirit  of 
truth  was  come  "  to  fulfil  the  prediction,  "  He  shall  glorify 

1  Acts  1.  15.         2  1  Qqy.  XV.  6.         3  Matt,  xxviii.  17. 
*  Acts  ii.  41.        5  H3i(j  Y\.  7.  «  Literally,  myriads. 

'  Acts  xxi.  20. 


LeCT.  V.      THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         135 

me."  Christ  was  not  preached  before  he  sufTered  ;  after  he 
was  glorified  he  was.  In  the  former  period,  he  and  his  fol- 
lowers "  preached  the  kingdom  of  God ; "  in  the  latter, 
"  they  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ."  Thus 
the  great  change  in  the  effect  of  the  preaching,  which  might 
seem  at  first  sight  to  derogate  from  his  glory,  is,  on  further 
consideration,  seen  to  enhance  it.  Only  when  it  is  possible 
fi-eely  and  fully  to  publish  the  one  "  name  under  heaven 
given  among  men,  whereby  they  must  be  saved,"  are  their 
consciences  thoroughly  roused  and  their  trust  decisively 
secured.  So  has  it  been,  and  so  shall  it  be  in  the  Church 
forever.  Oh,  that  the  apostolic  lesson  may  still  have  its 
fruit  amongst  ourselves !  that  our  evangelists  may  still 
know  where  their  power  lies  !  and  especially  that  it  may  be 
said  of  all  who  go  forth  to  the  work  from  this  place,  "  They 
ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ !  " 

2.  But  now  comes  the  question.  What  was  this  preaching 
of  Christ?  Some  have  paraphrased  it  as  the  preaching  of 
his  doctrine,  of  the  holy  lessons  which  he  taught.  Some, 
again,  as  the  setting  forth  of  his  holy  character,  the  beautj^ 
of  his  life,  and  the  attraction  of  his  love.  But  if  this  were 
the  main  idea  of  preaching  Christ,  then  certainly  the  rela- 
tive effect  of  his  own  teaching  and  of  that  of  his  disciples 
ought  to  have  been  just  the  reverse  of  what  it  was  ;  for  the 
actual  hearing  of  the  gi-acious  words  which  proceeded  out 
of  his  mouth,  and  the  actual  sight  of  his  holiness  and  love, 
must  be  supposed  more  effectual  than  the  mere  account  of 
them  by  others.  Then  Jesus  Christ  ought  to  have  gathered 
the  thousands  and  his  disciples  the  hundreds  ;  and  the  faith 
inspired  in  the  first  period  ought  to  have  been  more  decided 
and  intense  than  that  awakened  in  the  second.  But  the 
contrary  was  the  case.     There  was  then  something  in  the 


136         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  V. 

later  preaching  which  was  not  present  in  the  earlier.  Was 
it  that  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  was  then  openly  proclaimed, 
which  men  had  before  been  left  to  infer  from  the  things 
which  they  heard  and  saw  ?  It  was  this  —  but  more  than 
this.  Not  only  was  the  fact  of  the  Messiahship  proclaimed, 
but  the  nature  of  it  was  explained.  The  Christ  who  was 
now  proclaimed  was  one  who  had  died  and  risen  again,  and 
whom  the  heavens  had  received  till  the  time  of  the  restitu- 
tion of  all  things.^  In  these  three  facts  the  manifestation 
of  the  Son  of  God  had  culminated,  and  in  them  the  true 
character  of  his  mission  had  appeared.  The  old  carnal 
thoughts  of  it  had  been  left  in  his  grave,  and  could  never 
rise  from  it  again.  It  was  the  "  Prince  of  life"  who  had 
risen  from  the  dead  ;  it  was  the  "  King  of  glory"  who  had 
passed  into  the  heavens.  And  no  less  did  these  facts  de- 
clare the  spiritual  consequences  of  his  manifestation  ;  since 
they  carried  with  them  the  implication  of  those  three  cor- 
responding gifts,  which  we  celebrate  forevermore,  saj^ing 
with  solemn  joy,  "  I  believe  .  .  .  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the  life  everlasting." 

Towards  these  topics  the  preaching  of  Christ  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  continually  turns.  Observe  how  the  first 
and  present  blessing  (the  forgiveness  of  sins)  is  ever  ad- 
duced, as  the  result  of  the  wondrous  history  which  the 
chosen  witnesses  rehearse.  When  they  have  told  of  the 
cross  and  passion,  it  is  in  this  consequence  flowing  from  it 
unto  men  that  their  sermons  culminate  and  close.  "Him 
hath  God  exalted  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to  give  re- 
pentance to  Israel  and  forgiveness  of  sins  ;"  ^  "  Repent  and 
be  baptized  every  one  of  yoM  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 

1  Acts  V.  31. 


LeCT.  V.      THE  ACTS  or  THE  APOSTLES.        137 

for  the  remission  of  sins  ;  "  ^  "  Repent  ye  therefore  and  be 
converted,  that  your  sins  maybe  blotted  out;"^  "Be  it 
known  unto  3'ou  therefore,  men  and  brethren,  that  through 
this  man  is  preached  unto  3*on  the  forgiveness  of  sins  ;  and  by 
him  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things  from  which 
ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses  ;  "  ^  "To  him 
give  all  the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name  whoso- 
ever believeth  on  him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins."  ^ 

Such  is  the  burden  of  the  apostolical  preaching,  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  rapid  sketches  and  brief  summaries  given  in 
this  book.  It  is  a  doctrine  of  "redemption  by  his  blood, 
even  the  forgiveness  of  sins,"  conveying,  through  the  sim- 
ple act  of  faith,  a  present  cleansing  to  the  conscience,  as 
the  necessary  qualification  for  the  glor}^  which  is  to  follow. 

Then,  in  the  next  place,  that  glory  is  shown  to  arise 
from  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  as  the  preparation  for  it  does 
from  his  sufi'erings.  I  need  not  remind  you  of  the  "  great 
power  "  with  which,  from  one  end  of  the  book  to  the  other, 
"  the  Apostles  give  witness  of  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord 
Jesus."  Everywhere  they  preach  a  "  Christ  that  died,  yea^ 
rather^  that  is  risen  again."  This  event  is  presented  by 
them  not  simply  as  the  seal  of  his  teaching,  or  more  gener- 
ally (to  use  the  poor  and  shrunken  phrase  of  later  times)  as 
the  proof  of  his  divine  mission,  but  as  itself  the  cause  and 
the  commencement  of  that  new  world  and  eternal  life  which 
"was  consciously  "  the  hope  of  Israel,"  and  unconsciously 
the  hope  of  man.  Turn  especially  to  the  latter  part  of  the 
book,  and  study  the  position  taken  by  St.  Paul  in  the  last 
crisis  of  his  controversy  with  the  Jews.     See  how  he  falls 

»  Acts  ii.  38.  2  ibi(]^  iij^  19^ 

3  Ibid.  xiii.  38,  39.  *  Ibid.  x.  43. 


138  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  V. 

back  upon  the  resurrection  of  Christ  as  involving  the  reali- 
zation of  the  hopes  of  his  people  and  the  fulfilment  of  all 
the  promises  of  God.  Some  have  treated  as  a  mere  expe- 
dient for  his  own  deliverance  at  the  moment  that  one  voice 
which  he  cried  in  the  Council,  "  Men  and  brethren,  I  am  a 
Pharisee,  the  so'q  of  a  Pharisee  ;  of  the  liope  and  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question.'"  But  he  needed 
no  expedient,  for  he  was  then  in  Roman  hands  and  under 
Roman  protection.  It  was  no  pretence  to  serve  a  turn  ;  it 
was  the  genuine  language  of  his  heart.  In  all  his  other 
speeches  at  this  crisis  the  same  idea  reigns  predominant. 
*'I  stand  and  am  judged  for  the  hops  of  the  promise  made 
of  God  unto  our  fathers :  unto  which  promise  our  twelve 
tribes,  instantly  serving  God  day  and  night,  hope  to  come : 
for  which  hope's  sake,  King  Agrippa,  I  am  accused  of  the 
Jews.  Why  is  it  judged  by  you  a  thing  incredible  if  God 
raises  the  dead?  "  It  is  the  self-same  sound  which  we  heard 
in  the  first  discourse  given  us  from  his  lips,  when  he  cried 
to  the  Jews  of  the  Pisidian  Antioch,  "Now  we  declare  unto 
you  glad  tidings,  how  that  the  promise  which  was  made  unto 
the  fathers,  God  hath  fulfilled  the  same  unto  us  their  chil- 
dren, in  that  he  hath  raised  up  Jesus  again." 

And  when  we  read  his  mind  upon  this  subject  more  fully 
in  1  Cor.  xv.,  and  indeed  in  the  whole  of  his  writings,  we 
see  how  truly  the  resurrection  of  Christ  did,  in  his  view, 
include  the  realization  of  all  the  hopes  with  which  the  old 
covenant  was  pregnant ;  how  entirely  it  was  to  him  the 
cause  and  actual  commencement,  as  well  as  the  pledge  and 
promise,  of  the  resurrection  and  the  life  to  man. 

But  I  must  not  go  further  into  this  subject.  I  had  only 
to  indicate  that  the  general  character  of  the  doctrine  which 
appears  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  is  an  advance  upon  that 


LeCT.  V.      THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         139 

delivered  iu  the  Gospels.  I  say  that  it  is  so,  inasmuch  as 
it  does  more  than  merel}^  testif}^  to  the  facts  of  the  mani- 
festation of  Christ,  as  (to  use  an  imperfect  illustration)  the 
summing  up  of  a  judge  is  an  advance  upon  the  evidence  on 
which  it  is  founded,  since  it  adds  to  the  rehearsal  of  that 
evidence  the  selection  of  its  critical  points,  the  representa- 
tion of  their  force  and  bearing,  and  the  intimation  of  the 
conclusions  to  which  they  lead.  Thus  does  the  preaching 
of  the  Apostles  sum  up  the  result  of  all  that  the  Gospels 
have  disclosed,  by  the  direct  preaching  of  Jesus  to  men's 
souls,  and  by  preaching  him  especially  as  the  Christ  who 
has  been  perfected  by  death  and  resurrection  ;  by  death 
which  provides  for  the  present  necessities  of  conscience  in 
the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  b}^  resurrection  which  provides 
for  the  longings  and  hopes  of  the  soul  in  the  life  everlast- 
ing. The  messengers  of  God  in  this  book  cease  not  to 
teach  and  preach  Jesus  the  Christ,  as  a  Saviour  by  these 
means  and  in  this  sense. 

II.  It  is,  however,  the  book  not  of  the  words,  but  of  the 
acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  we  accordingly  find  in  it  the  inti- 
mations rather  than  the  expositions  of  doctrine.  It  assists 
our  present  inquiry  in  a  manner  more  appropriate  to  its 
historical  character,  by  lajing  down  for  us  the  course  of 
external  events  through  lohich  the  doctrine  ivas  matured. 

I  have  already  adverted  to  the  systematic  plan  of  the 
book,  as  following  out  this  course  of  events  with  the  instinct 
of  an  undeviating  purpose.  It  carries  us  straight  from  the 
Gospels  to  the  Epistles,  as  the  span  of  some  great  bridge 
continues  the  road  between  dissevered  regions.  Take  it 
away  and  what  a  chasm  appears!  "Paul,  an  Apostle  of 
Jesus  Christ,  to  saints  that  are  in  Rome,  in  Corinth,  Thes- 
salonica,  Philippi,  Galatia,  Ephesus,  Colossse."    Who  is  this 


140  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  V. 

Paul,  and  in  what  sense  is  he  an  Apostle?  We  knew  him 
not  when  the  twelve  were  ordained.  We  saw  him  not 
among  the  witnesses  of  the  resurrection.  How  came  the 
Gospel  to  these  places?  and  is  it  the  same  Gospel  for  these 
Gentiles  as  it  was  for  the  Jews  ?  As  for  James,  and  Peter, 
and  John,  and  Jude,  we  know  and  revere  their  commission  : 
but  we  saw  them  last  in  partial  ignorance  and  error,  and 
we  hardl}^  know  what  the  value  of  their  words  may  be. 

We  have  noted  on  a  former  occasion  the  answers  to  these 
questions  which  the  book  of  Acts  supplies  —  the  anointing 
of  the  Hol}^  Ghost  qualif3'ing  the  men  to  fulfil  the  commis- 
sion which  they  had  received,  the  guidance  of  Christ  given 
to  their  steps  and  his  attestations  to  their  words  and  works, 
the  call  and  commission  of  St.  Paul  and  his  special  appoint- 
ment to  a  special  work,  and  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  in  the 
world,  and  the  rise  of  the  Gentile  Churches.  By  means  of 
this  information  we  are  brought  to  the  point  at  which  we 
can  open  the  apostolic  writings,  first  with  a  due  sense  of 
their  divine  authority,  and  then  with  a  sufficient  acquaint- 
ance with  the  persons,  scenes,  and  facts  with  which  they 
are  connected,  and  (I  ma}^  further  add)  with  eflective  sup- 
ports to  our  conviction  of  their  genuineness  and  authentic- 
it3\  But  neither  of  these  functions  of  the  book  is  precisely 
that  for  which  we  now  inquire.  Between  Gospels  and  Epis- 
tles there  is  need  for  a  connection  of  a  more  internal  kind. 
During  the  intervening  time  the  doctrine  was  not  only 
spreading,  it  was  clearing  and  forming  itself,  or  rather  was 
being  cleared  and  formed  by  the  hand  of  its  Divine  Au- 
thor. This  was  effected  through  a  certain  line  of  events 
and  through  the  agency  of  particular  persons.  With  these 
events  and  persons  the  Book  of  Acts  is  occupied. 

It  begins  at  Jerusalem,  it  ends  at  Rome.     Between  these 


LeCT.  Y.      the  acts  bY   THE  APOSTLES.        141 

two  points  questions  have  been  settled,  principles  carried 
out,  and  divinely  implanted  tendencies  disclosed.  Espe- 
ciall}^  have  the  relations  of  the  Gospel  to  Jew  and  Gentile 
been  fixed  forever.  AYe  see  how  all  the  story  progressively 
ministers  to  this  result. 

First  Peter  presents  the  Gospel  as  the  fulfilment  of 
prophecy  and  completion  of  the  covenant  made  with  the 
fathers.  Then  the  Hellenist  element  seems  to  eclipse  the 
Hebrew,  and  Stephen  rises  to  reason  and  to  die.  A  large 
space  is  therefore  given  to  the  speech,  which  sets  forth  the 
progressive  nature  of  the  dealings  of  God  with  Israel,  and 
shows  the  drift  of  that  current  of  thought  on  which  we  are 
launched.  The  death  of  Stephen  is  not  only  an  individual 
martjTdom,  like  that  of  James,  so  briefl}"  mentioned  after- 
wards ;  it  is  a  great  crisis,  and  stands  as  such  in  the  narra- 
tive, with  a  clear  intimation  of  the  position  which  was 
assumed  on  the  one  side  and  rejected  on  the  other. 
Straightway  the  Gospel  spreads.  First  Hebrew,  then 
Hellenist,  by  the  ministry  of  Philip  it  soon  becomes 
Samaritan,  and  at  the  next  step  by  that  of  Peter  goes  in 
to  men  uncircumcised.  In  the  story  of  Cornelius  we  have 
a  detailed  statement  of  the  means  by  which  the  Lord  mani- 
fested his  will,  that  the  Gentiles  should  hear  the  word  and 
believe.  Then  we  pass  from  the  side  of  Peter  to  that  of 
the  new  Apostle,  to  whom  the  carrying  out  of  this  principle 
is  committed.  Antioch  becomes  our  starting-point,  where 
the  disciples  are  first  called  Christians.  We  follow  the 
steps  of  the  traveller,  and  see  far  and  wide  that  God  hath 
also  to  the  Gentiles  granted  repentance  unto  life.  Then 
an  opposing  power  is  felt  within  the  Church,  and  Christian 
Judaism  asserts  that  there  is  departure  from  the  original 
scheme.     The  Council  meets,  and  by  testimonies  of  Scrip- 


142  THE    PROGRESS    OF'  DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  V. 

ture  and  of  fact  infers  the  verdict  of  God,  and  issnes  the 
high  decision,  ''  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to 
ns."  Then,  and  not  till  then,  Europe  is  entered,  and  the 
great  centres  of  Greek  life  are  occupied ;  but  still  in  every 
place  does  the  Apostle  address  himself  first  to  the  Jews, 
and  ever3'where  they  reject  and  persecute  him.  Finall}',  he 
returns  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  nation,  and  presents 
himself  there  with  every  circumstance  of  conciliation,  but 
claiming  his  place  in  the  covenant  and  as  a  preacher  of  the 
hope  of  Israel.  The  scenes  and  speeches  of  that  crisis  are 
given  with  fulness,  because  they  define  the  position  of  the 
Christianity  which  St.  Paul  represents  towards  the  Jewish 
system,  and  its  final  and  furious  rejection  by  the  Jewish 
people.  ^  "  Believing  all  things  which  are  written  in 
the  Law  and  in  the  Prophets,  and  having  committed 
nothing  against  the  people  or  customs  of  his  fathers,"  ^ 
he  and  his  creed  are  forced  from  their  proper  home. 
On  it  as  well  as  him  the  Temple  doors  are  shut.  Last- 
ly, before  the  Jews  at  Rome  he  closes  the  long  struggle 
with  the  peroration  furnished  him  by  prophecy  :  —  "Well 
spake  the  Holy  Ghost  by  Esaias  the  prophet  unto  our 
fathers,  sajdng.  Go  unto  this  people  and  saj",  Hearing  ye 
shall  hear,  and  shall  not  understand  ;  and  seeing  3'e  shall 
see,  and  not  perceive.  For  the  heart  of  this  people  is 
waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  their 
ej^es  have  they  closed ;  lest  they  should  see  with  their 
eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  understand  with  their 

1  Not,  as  some  have  put  it,  because  Luke  happened  to  be  pres- 
ent. Rather,  Luke  was  present  because  the  scenes  and  speeches 
were  to  be  reported. 

2  Acts  xxiv.  14;  xxviii.  17. 


LeCT.  V.     THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.  143 

heart,  and  should  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them. 
Be  it  known  therefore  unto  3'ou,  that  the  salvation  of  God 
^  is  sent  unto  the  Gentiles,  and  that  they  will  hear  it."  ^ 

Now  let  no  man  think  that  the  rejection  of  Jews  and  ad- 
mission of  Gentiles  were  the  only  result  of  this  long  history. 
Another  result  has  been  involved  in  it :  Christianity  itself 
has  been  finally  drawn  out  of  Judaism,  the  delicate  and 
intricate  relations  of  the  two  S3^stems  being  dealt  with  in 
such  a  waj^,  that  (so  to  speak)  the  texture  of  living  fibre 
has  been  lifted  unimpaired  out  of  its  former  covering, 
leaving  behind  onl^'  a  residuum  of  what  was  temporary, 
preparator}-,  and  carnal.  In  fact,  the  doctrine  of  the  Gos- 
pel has  been  cleared  and  formed  ;  cleared  of  the  false 
element  which  the  existing  Judaism  would  have  infused 
into  it,  and  formed  of  the  true  elements  which  the  old 
covenant  had  been  intended  to  prepare  for  its  use. 

Two  great  principles,  it  seems  to  me,  were  fought  for  and 
secured,  which  may  be  expressed  (though  not  with  strict 
accuracj")  by  saying  that  the  Gospel  is  the  substitute  for  the 
Law,  and  that  the  Gosjoel  is  the  heir  of  the  Laio. 

a.  In  sajiug  that  the  Gospel  is  the  substitute  for  the  Law, 
I  do  not  mean  that  it  is  so,  as  doing  what  the  Law  had 
done  before  it  came,  nor  yet  as  doing  what  the  Law  had 
been  meant,  but  had  failed,  to  do ;  but  only  as  doing  that 
which  the  Law  had  been  supposed  to  do.  The  Gospel  pro- 
vides for  individual  souls  the  means  of  justification  and  the 
title  to  eternal  life.  This  the  Law  had  not  done,  had  not 
been  meant  to  do,  and  by  Prophets  and  Psalmists  had  been 
asserted  not  to  do.  Yet  it  had  sunk  deep  into  the  mind 
of  those  who  were  under  it,  that  this  was  the  very  thing 

1  Acts  xxviii.  25-28. 


144         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.      LeCT.  V. 

which  it  did.  Scribes  taught  distinct!}^,  and  the  people 
were  possessed  with  the  idea,  that  there  had  been  a  law 
given  which  could  give  life,  and  that  righteousness  was  b}^ 
that  Law.  Here  was  the  conviction  which  had  entwined 
itself  with  their  patriotism  and  theu-  religion.  Here  was 
their  pride  and  boast,  and  the  prerogative  which  severed 
them  from  all  mankind.  Then,  as  now,  they  looked  for  a 
Messiah,  who  was  to  perfect  the  keeping  of  the  Law,  and 
(in  some  sense)  to  save  other  nations  by  reducing  them  to 
its  obedience,  and  (as  appeared  in  the  sequel)  many  re- 
ceived Jesus  himself  as  the  Messiah,  without  any  material 
change  in  that  idea.  But  when  the  death  of  Jesus  was 
preached  as  procuring,  and  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  as 
originating  eternal  life,  and  when  the  simple  act  of  faith  in 
him  was  proclaimed  as  the  means  of  sharing  it,  the  antago- 
nism of  the  two  doctrines  appeared. 

It  was  first  in  the  arguments  of  Stephen,  and  afterwards 
in  the  preaching  of  Paul,  that  this  particular  feature  of  the 
Christian  system  made  itself  felt  in  its  bearing  on  the  great 
Jewish  error.  Hence  the  passion,  the  virulence,  and  the 
rancor  with  which  the  two  men  were  pursued.  "  This 
man  ceaseth  not  to  speak  blasphemous  words  against  this 
hol}^  place  and  the  law  "  ^  —  so  ran  the  accusation  against 
the  first  martyr :  and  years  afterwards  the  superintendent 
of  his  execution  heard  the  same  words  shrieked  out  against 
himself,  "  Men  of  Israel,  help !  This  is  the  man  who 
teacheth  all  men  everywhere  against  the  people,  and  the 
law,  and  this  place."  -  False  aud  odious  allegations  !  Yet 
the  doctrine  of  which  the  two  men  were  the  great  exponents 
did  really  involve  a  flat   contradiction  of  the   prevailing 

1  Acts  vi.  13.  2  Ibid.  xxi.  28. 


LeCT.  V.     THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         145 

Jewish  theory  about  the  people,  and  the  law,  and  that  place. 
"Within  the  Christian  Church  the  same  theory  held  its 
ground,  and  in  that  quarter  cost  the  Apostle  a  still  closer 
and  keener  conflict,  in  order  to  vindicate  and  establish  for 
Jew  as  well  as  Gentile  the  great  principle,  "  By  grace  are 
ye  saved  through  faith,"  ^  or,  as  St.  Peter  expressed  the 
same  truth,  "  Through  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
we  shall  be  saved,  even  as  they."  ^ 

Still  the  anxious  pastor  in  his  parish,  still  the  self-obser- 
vant Christian  in  his  own  heart,  learns  how  deep-seated 
and  how  stubborn  is  that  principle  in  human  nature,  which 
seeks  the  starting-point  of  salvation  in  self  rather  than  in 
God,  in  doing  rather  than  in  receiving,  in  work  rather  than 
in  grace.  By  the  common  Jewish  theory  of  the  Law,  that 
principle  has  fortified  itself  strongly'',  and  clothed  itself 
gloriously,  with  the  usurped  sanctions  of  God.  The  Juda- 
izing  doctrine  would  have  perpetuated  that  usurpation  in 
the  Christian  Church,  and,  in  so  doing,  would  have  neutral- 
ized the  Gospel  itself.  The  keen  eye  of  the  selected 
champion  saw  in  a  moment  the  fatal  consequences  of  cus- 
toms turned  into  doctrines,  which  others,  who  believed  as 
he  did,  were  perhaps  inclined  to  regard  with  indulgence, 
as  signs  of  an  affectionate  veneration  for  ancient  ordi- 
nances. 

In  his  writings  we  see  how  his  penetrating  eye  discerned 
the  danger,  and  how  his  unsparing  hand  averted  it :  we  see 
also  that  the  intuitive  discernment  and  the  impulsive  vigor 
were  the  result  of  a  deep  personal  experience,  both  of  the 
error  which  he  resisted,  and  of  the  truth  which  he  defended. 
In  the  Acts  we  are  carried  through  the  period  of  this  con- 

1  Eph.  ii.  8.  2  Acts  xv.  11. 

13 


14G  THE    PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  V. 

test  in  Ihe  outward  course  of  events,  and  when  the  history- 
ceases  in  the  hired  house  at  Rome,  the  Gospel  has  fought 
itself  free,  and  severed  itself  from  Judaism,  not  merely  in 
its  form,  but  in  its  essence,  proclaiming  salvation  by  the 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  by  the  works  of  the 
Law. 

h.    The   other  principle   which    is   contended    for   and 
secured  is,  that  the  Gospel  is  the  heir  of  the  Law;  that  it 
inherits  what  the  Law  had  prepared.     The  Law,  on  its 
national    and   ceremonial    side,    had    created   a   vast   and 
closel3'-woven  system  of  ideas.     These  were  wrought  out 
and  exhibited  by  it  in  forms   according  to  the  flesh  —  an 
elect  nation,  a  miraculous  historj',  a  special  covenant,  a 
worldly  sanctuary,  a  perpetual  service,  an  anointed  priest- 
hood,  a   ceremonial   sanctity,   a  scheme   of  sacrifice  and 
atonement,  a  purchased  possession,  a  holy  city,  a  throne 
of  David,  a  destiny  of  dominion.     Were  these  ideas  to  be 
lost,  and  the  language  which  expressed  them  to  be  dropped, 
when  the  Gospel  came  ?    No  !     It  was  the  heir  of  the  Law. 
The  Law  had  prepared  these  riches,  and  now  bequeathed 
them  to  a  successor  able  to  unlock  and  to  diffuse  them. 
The  Gospel  claimed  them  all,  and  developed  in  them  a 
value  unknown  before.     It  asserted  itself  as  the  proper 
and  predestined  continuation  of  the  covenant  made  of  God 
with  the  fathers,  the  real  and  onlj'  fulfilment  of  all  which 
was  tj'pified  and  prophesied  ;  presenting  the  same  ideas, 
which  had  been  before  embodied  in  the  narrow  but  distinct 
limits   of  carnal   forms,  in  their  spiritual,  universal,   and 
eternal  character.     The  body  of  types    according  to  the 
flesh  died  with  Christ,  and  with  Christ  it  rose  again  a  body 
of  antitypes  according  to  the  Spirit.     Those  who  were  after 
the  flesh  could  not  recognize  its  identity :  those  who  were 


LeCT.  V.     THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         147 

after  the  Spirit  felt  and  proclaimed  it.  The  change  was  as 
great,  the  identity  was  as  real,  as  in  that  mystery  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  which  the  same  preachers  showed  : 
in  which  the  earthly  frame  must  lay  aside  the  flesh  and 
blood  which  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  must 
reappear,  dead  and  raised  again,  another  and  yet  the  same, 
"  sown  in  weakness  and  raised  in  power,  sown  in  dishonor 
and  raised  in  glory,  sown  a  natural  body  and  raised  a 
spiritual  body." 

But  I  should  speak  amiss  if  I  left  it  to  appear  that  the 
Gospel  inherited  the  ideas  only  of  the  preceding  dispensa- 
tion, and  not,  in  one  sense,  their  form  also.  Their  written 
form  it  did  inherit,  unchanged  and  unchangeable.  The 
Law  and  the  Prophets,  as  scriptures,  as  a  book,  were  still 
under  the  new  dispensation  what  they  had  been  under  the 
old  —  the  voice  of  the  Spirit  and  the  word  of  God.  Nay  ! 
this  written  word  belonged  to  the  new  dispensation  more 
truly  than  to  the  old,  for  these  scriptures  also  were  now 
raised  to  newness  of  life,  and  were  recognized  as  prepared 
for  the  uses  to  which  they  were  now  applied,  and  written 
less  for  the  immediate  than  for  the  ulterior  purposes  ;  as 
St.  Peter  has  expressed  it,  "  Not  unto  themselves,  but  unto 
us  they  did  minister  the  things  which  are  now  reported 
unto  you  by  them  that  have  preached  the  Gospel  unto  you 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven."  ^  This  is 
ever  the  position  of  St.  Paul,  for,  as  one  has  truly  said, 
"  None  of  the  Apostles  has  laid  such  stress  upon  the  Holy 
Scripture  as  the  Apostle  of  the  Spirit  and  liberty."  ^  And 
as  this  appears  in  his  writings,  so  does  it  also  in  the  his- 

1 1  Peter  i.  12. 

2  Baumgarten  on  the  Acts,  vol.  iii.  78  (Clarke's  Tr.).         * 


148         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  V. 

tory.  From  his  first  reported  speech  at  the  Pisidian 
Antioch/  which  bases  all  upon  the  Scriptures,  still  he  goes 
on  with  the  Scriptures  in  his  hand,  till  he  stands  and  is 
judged,  "  believing  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  Law 
and  in  the  Prophets  ;  "  ^  and  finally  parts  from  the  Roman 
Jews  after  "persuading  them  concerning  Jesus,  both  out 
of  the  Law  of  Moses  and  out  of  the  Prophets,  from  morn- 
ing till  evening."  ^  This  then  is  the  position  taken  at  the 
beginning  and  fought  for  to  the  end ;  and  it  is  a  striking 
sight  to  see  how  resolutely  St.  Paul  insists  that  he  and  his 
doctrine  are  the  true  representatives  of  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets,  while  he  is  being  persecuted  and  cast  out,  as 
having  betrayed  and  blasphemed  them. 

These  two  principles — what  the  Gospel  does  without 
the  Law,  and  what  the  Gospel  derives  from  the  Law  —  do 
in  fact  contain  the  main  substance  of  apostolic  teaching. 
On  the  one  side,  the  principle  that  men  are  "justified 
freely  by  God's  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus "  *  is  laid  as  the  deep  foundation  of  all  the 
various  forms  and  applications  of  evangelical  truth.  On 
the  other,  the  principle  that  the  same  things  which  were 
done  under  the  old  covenant  in  the  region  of  the  flesh  are 
done  under  the  new  covenant  in  the  region  of  the  spirit, 
opens  out  into  the  doctrine  of  the  mediatorial  work  of 
Christ  in  the  true  tabernacle,  the  sacrificial  character  of 
his  death,  the  atoning  virtue  of  his  blood,  the  sanctification 
of  believers  as  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  an  holy  nation, 
and  their  destined  inheritance  in  a  promised  land  and  a 
holy  city  of  their  God.     The  expansion  of  these  doctrines 

1  Acts  XV.  13,  41.  2  Ibid.  xxiv.  14. 

8Acts  xxviii.  23.  *  Kom.  iii.  24. 


Lect.  V.     THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.         149 

fills  aud  forms  all  the  Epistles,  and  each  is  distinctly 
wrought  out  by  itself,  the  one  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
at  the  beginning,  the  other  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
at  the  end,  of  the  course  of  the  Pauline  writings. 

It  is  in  the  Epistles  themselves  that  we  behold  this  ex- 
pansion and  formation  of  doctrine.  In  the  Book  of  Acts 
we  are  conversant  rather  with  the  providential  circum- 
stances through  which  the  result  was  obtained.  Great 
principles  are  wrought  out  and  settled  in  men's  minds  only 
through  some  such  process  as  is  here  disclosed ;  namely, 
by  persons  raised  up  to  represent  them,  by  consultations, 
reasonings,  debates  concerning  them,  hj  events  which  com- 
pel their  more  distinct  assertion  and  test  their  hidden 
strength,  and  by  the  action  of  opposing  principles,  firmly 
resisted  in  their  fierce  assaults,  or  instinctively  rejected  in 
their  subtle  approaches.  This,  the  common-  course  of  the 
development  and  establishment  of  all  principles,  is  here 
presented  to  us  as  carried  on  under  the  manifested  guid- 
ance of  the  Lord  himself;  who,  by  special  interventions, 
raises  up  the  persons,  guides  the  events,  and  certifies  the 
issues  with  his  own  signature  and  seal. 

Blessing  and  praise  be  unto  his  holy  name,  because  he 
has  done  this  !  For  he  has  thus  added  to  the  manifestation 
of  himself  his  own  direction  as  to  the  way  in  which  it  is  to 
be  used.  On  what  a  sea  of  uncertainties  we  should  else 
have  been  launched !  Observe  the  vague  and  vavering 
doctrine  which  ensues  whenever  the  divine  attestation  of 
the  apostolical  teaching  meets  with  discredit  or  mistrust. 
Now  the  Gospel  is  nothing  but  a  re-publication,  pure  and 
perfect,  of  the  Law  of  God  ;  now  it  is  a  proclamation  of 
his  universal  fatherhood  ;  now  an  exhibition  of  the  beauty 
of  holiness  and  the  attraction  of  love  ;  now  the  revelation 

13* 


150  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  V. 

of  a  righteous  King  and  Head  of  the  human  race  ;  now  it 
seems  little  else  than  a  negation,  a  sweeping  away  of  all 
the  ideas  which  a  teaching  supposed  to  be  divine  had 
fashioned  through  preceding  ages.  So  it  is  when  men  pro- 
ceed, as  if  the  summing  up  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ 
had  not  been  done  for  them,  but  was  left  for  them  to  do. 
From  all  partial  or  perverted  representations  our  refuge  is 
with  those  who  were  actually  commissioned  to  do  it,  and 
who,  under  a  divine  guidance  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of 
that  commission,  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ. 
Through  the  blessed  ordinance  of  a  written  word  they  have 
not  ceased  to  do  so  now.  To  us,  even  to  us  who  are  here 
alive  this  day,  they  preach  him  still ;  a  Christ  *'  who  died 
for  our  sins  and  rose  again  for  our  justification  ;  "  a  Christ 
who  saves  without  the  Law,  yet  one  who  is  witnessed  by 
the  Law  and  the  Prophets.  So  they  preach,  and  so  we 
believe.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  confidence  and  the 
rejoicing  of  the  hope  to  the  Church  at  its  birth,  and  this 
beginning  it  will  hold  firm  unto  the  end.  It  Is  for  us  to 
see  that  we  bear  our  part  in  the  long  history  of  the  faith, 
finding  its  reality  in  the  joy  of  our  own  salvation,  and 
transmitting  its  testimony  to  the  generation  to  come. 


LECTUKE    YI. 

THE  EPISTLES. 

PAUL,  A  SERVANT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST,  CALLED  TO  BE  AN  APOSTLE,  SEPARATED 
UNTO  THE  GOSPEL  OF  GOD  ...  TO  ALL  THAT  BE  IN  ROME,  BELOVED  OF 
GOD,  CALLED  TO  BE  SAINTS  !  GRACE  TO  TOU  AND  PEACE  FROM  GOD  OUR 
FATHER,  AND  THE  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST.  — 2?07n.  i.  1,  7. 

These  words  are  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  long  super- 
scription which  opens  the  series  of  Apostolic  Epistles.  That 
superscription  forms  a  close  and  living  union  with  the  pre- 
ceding book,  in  which  we  have  known  Paul  the  servant  of 
Jesus  Christ,  his  calling  to  be  an  Apostle,  his  separation  to 
the  gospel  of  God,  and  have  left  him  at  its  close  testifying 
to  that  gospel  in  Rome  itself.  A  still  more  intimate  union 
will  disclose  itself  to  any  one  who  studies  the  position 
which  he  takes  up  for  his  gospel  and  himself  in  the  book  of 
Acts,  and  then  considers  the  succinct  and  explicit  assertion 
of  the  same  position  in  the  intervening  verses  of  this  super- 
scription, where  he  characterizes  the  gospel  to  which  he 
was  separated  as  that  which  '"'  God  had  promised  afore  by 
his  prophets  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  concerning  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  who  was  made  of  the  seed  of  David 
according  to  the  flesh  ;  and  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God 
with  power,  according  to  the  spirit  of  holiness,  by  the  res- 
urrection from  the  dead:  by  whom,"  he  adds,  "we  have 
received  grace  and  apostleship  for  obedience  to  the  faith 
among  all  nations,  for  his  name  :  among  whom  are  ye  also 
the  called  of  Jesus  Christ."     Here  the  Apostle  seems  to 

151 


152         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  VI. 

stand  before  us  as  he  did  in  the  previous  history,  firmly 
holding  his  ground  in  the  prophetic  and  historic  line  of  the 
old  covenant,  and  from  that  stxinding-point  opening  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Spirit,  which  has  its  source  and  its  pledge 
in  the  resurrection,  and  claiming  "  all  nations "  for  the 
*' obedience  of  faith" 

This  witness  of  continuity  is  especially  important  in  pass- 
ing from  the  apostolic  history  to  the  apostolic  writings, 
since  the  history  gains  significance  from  the  doctrine,  and 
the  doctrine  derives  authority  from  the  histor}'.  The  per- 
sons and  events  in  the  Book  of  Acts  are  important  because 
the}^  were  ordained  for  the  working  out  of  the  truth  of  the 
Gospel.     But  icliat  is  that  truth  which  they  worked  out? 

Summaries  of  its  general  character  occur  in  that  book 
continually,  and  the  points  which  are  being  cleared  and 
established  are  strongly  indicated  ;  but  we  have  only  sum- 
maries and  indications,  and  the  sketches  of  doctrines  pre- 
sented to  us  are  taken  rather  from  without  than  from  within. 
If  we  except  the  debate  in  the  council  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
charge  to  the  elders  of  Miletus,  all  the  discourses  reported 
in  this  book  are  addressed  to  those  who  are  not  yet  Chris- 
tians. So  Christ  was  preached  to  the  world  :  but  how  was 
he  taught  to  the  Church  ? 

This  element  is  wanting  in  the  history :  yet  it  is  one 
which  we  should  have  naturally  looked  to  find  ;  and,  as  we 
are  brought  into  contact  with  so  many  Churches,  on  whose 
incipient  and  unsettled  Christianity  the  labor  of  St.  Paul 
was  spent,  its  absence  is  really  remarkable.  We  are  told 
how  he  passed  two  jears  at  Ephesus,  and  a  j^ear  and  a  half 
at  Corinth,  ''  teaching  the  word  of  God  among  them,"  how, 
revisiting  his  Churches,  "  he  gave  them  much  exhortation," 
and  how  he  "  was  long  preaching"  in  one  assembly  or  an- 


Lect.  YI.  the  epistles.  153 

other  of  the  brethren  :  but  no  particulars  of  these  preach- 
ings, teachings,  and  exhortations  are  given  :  and,  consider- 
ing that  we  have  specimens  of  ever}^  kind  of  address  to  those 
that  are  icithont,  we  might  well  ask  why  there  is  no  exam- 
j)le  to  show  how  men  were  taught  after  they  had  believed. 
But  they  who  hold  that  the  scheme  of  Scripture  as  a  whole 
is  of  the  Holj^  Ghost  will  not  ask  that  question  ;  for  they 
see  that  this  omission  is  part  of  a  plan,  which  provides 
this  information  for  us  in  a  more  worthy  and  perfect  way  ; 
namel}',  by  placing  in  our  hands  the  collection  of  Apostolic 
Epistles. 

These  writings  are  addressed  to  those  who  are  already 
Christians  ;  as  our  text  describes  them,  "  called  of  Christ 
Jesus  —  beloved  of  God  —  called  saints."  Such  high  titles, 
repeated  in  the  successive  superscriptions,  warn  us  that  we 
are  here  in  the  esoteric  circle  of  doctrine.  Whatever  prog- 
ress of  doctrine  these  writings  exhibit,  that  fact  is  the  key 
to  it.  It  must  be  a  distinctly  subjective  progress,  working 
out  the  results  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  men. 

Observe  the  point  at  which  we  have  arrived,  by  the  time 
that  we  finish  the  Book  of  Acts,  and  open  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  The  facts  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ  have  been 
completed,  and  have  been  testified  in  all  fulness  and  cer- 
tainty by  the  witnesses  chosen  of  God.  They  have  not  only 
testified  of  the  facts,  they  have  summed  them  up  ;  have  an- 
nounced their  scope  and  purpose  in  the  counsels  of  God,  as 
effecting  the  redemption  of  the  world,  and  have  called  men 
to  partake  in  the  fruits  of  that  redemption  by  believing  and 
being  baptized.  They  have  given  this  testimony,  not  as  of 
themselves,  but  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven, 
whose  witness  is  united  with  their  own,  and  whose  indwell- 


154        THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT,  VI. 

ing  presence  is  given  also  to  those  who  receive  the  testi- 
mony, in  order  to  open  its  meaning  and  to  seal  its  truth. 
Thus  a  lioly  Church  is  formed,  which  gradually  proves  itself 
catholic,  and  shows  at  once  its  power  of  expansion  and  its 
spirit  of  unity  ;  and  within  its  protecting  framew  ork  there 
exists  a  communion  of  saints^  a  common  participation  in  the 
same  spiritual  possessions  by  all  whom  a  union  with  Christ 
has  separated  and  sanctified  to  God ;  and  thus  men  are 
joined  to  the  Lord  and  united  with  each  other,  and  rest  in 
the  consciousness  that  they  have  found  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the  life  everlasting.  In 
its  fundamental  articles  the  Creed  is  now  complete. 

To  this  point  the  book  of  Acts  conducts  us,  and  at. this 
point  it  leaves  us. 

It  may  be  said,  what  more  should  follow  ?  Christians 
exist.  Christian  communities  are  formed.  Let  them  now 
be  left  to  their  ordinary  and  permanent  resources. 

So  it  might  have  been.  —  So  in  God's  mercy  it  was  not. 
A  new  life  had  begun,  intellectual,  moral,  and  social, 
teeming  with  elements  which  could  not  but  work  and  ex- 
pand. It  would  have  been  hard  to  say  with  what  force  they 
would  do  so,  or  in  what  direction.  2^ow  the  great  ideas  of 
the  Gospel  are  old  and  familiar  ;  and  the  very  words  which 
represent  them  have  been  sorely  battered  b}^  controversy, 
and  worn  thin  by  use.  But  then  the  revelation  of  Christ 
had  just  broken,  like  an  unexpected  morning,  on  a  weary 
and  hopeless  world.  The  stupendous  events  which  had  so 
latel}^  passed  on  earth,  the  present  actual  relations  with 
heaven  which  were  witnessed  to  men  hy  proofs  within  and 
around  them,  the  prospect  of  things  awful  and  glorious 
hastening  on,  and  perhaps  already  near  at  hand,  must  have 
given  a  stimulus  to  thought  and  feeling,  the  first  sensations 


Lect.  YT.  the  epistles.  155 

of  which  it  is  not  easy  for  us  now  to  estimate.  The  Father 
revealed,  the  Sou  incarnate,  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from 
heaven  —  redemption  wrought,  salvation  given,  the  resur- 
rection of  the  bod}^,  the  eternal  judgment,  the  second  death, 
the  life  eternal — new  principles  of  thought,  new  standards 
of  character,  new  grounds  of  duty,  new  motives,  new  pow- 
ers, new  bonds  between  man  and  man,  new  forms  of  human 
society,  new  language  for  human  lips  —  all  coming  at  once 
upon  men's  minds,  placed  them,  as  it  were,  in  a  different 
world  from  that  in  which  they  had  lived  before.  At  the 
same  time  they  carried  into  that  world  of  thought  all  the 
tendencies,  infirmities,  and  perversities  of  our  nature,  and 
revealed  truth  had  to  settle  itself  into  lasting  forms,  to  find 
its  adequate  expression,  and  to  have  its  moral  and  social 
consequences  deduced,  under  a  variety  of  influences  uncon- 
genial to  itself.  So  critical  a  period,  on  which  the  whole 
future  of  the  Gospel  hung,  would  seem  to  cry  aloud  for  a 
continued  action  of  the  living  word  of  God  ;  such  as  might, 
with  supreme  authority,  both  judge  and  guide  the  thoughts 
of  men,  and  translate  the  principles  which  thej^  had  received 
into  life  and  practice. 

The  Lord  recognized  this  necessit}^  He  met  it  by  the 
living  voice  of  his  Apostles  ;  and  their  Epistles  remain  as 
the  permanent  record  of  this  part  of  their  work.  They  are 
the  voice  of  the  Spirit,  speaking  within  the  Church  to  those 
who  are  themselves  within  it,  certifying  to  them  the  true 
interpretations  and  applications  of  the  principles  of  thought 
and  life  which  as  believers  in  Jesus  they  have  received. 
This  is  the  function  in  the  scheme  of  divine  instruction 
which  belongs  to  these  writings  ;  and  I  propose  now  to  note 
some  particular  aspects  in  which  their  designation  and 
adaptation  to  it  will  appear.     Without  entering  yet  into 


156         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.     LeCT.  VI. 

the  examination  of  their  actual  doctrine,  we  shall  see  that 
the  Epistles  are  fitted  to  form  a  course  of  teaching  of  the 
kind  described,  by  their  form,  their  method,  their  author- 
ship, and  their  relative  character. 

I.  The  form  in  which  this  teaching  is  given  to  us  is  very 
significant.  "  The  epistolary  form,"  saj^s  Bengel,  "is  a  pre- 
eminence of  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  Old."  ^"^  It  is  a  suggestive  remark, 
reminding  us  of  that  open  commmiication  and  equal  partici- 
pation of  revealed  truth,  which  is  the  prerogative  of  the 
later  above  the  former  dispensation  ;  indicating  too  that  the 
teacher  and  the  taught  are  placed  on  one  common  level  in 
the  fellowship  of  truth.  The  Prophets  delivered  oracles  to 
the  people,  but  the  Apostles  wrote  letteis  to  the  brethren,  let- 
ters characterized  by  all  that  fulness  of  unreserved  expla- 
nation, and  that  play  of  various  feeling,  which  are  proper 
to  that  form  of  intercourse.  It  is  in  its  nature  a  more  fa- 
miliar communication,  as  between  those  who  are,  or  should 
be,  equals.  That  Qharacter  may  less  obviously  force  upon 
us  the  sense,  that  the  light  which  is  thrown  on  all  subjects 
is  that  of  a  divine  inspiration  ;  but  this  is  only  the  natural 
effect  of  the  greater  fulness  of  that  light ;  for  so  the  moon- 
beams fix  the  eye  upon  themselves,  as  they  burst  through 
the  rifts  of  rolling  clouds,  catching  the  edges  of  objects  and 
falling  on  patches  of  the  landscape  ;  while,  under  the  settled 
brightness  of  the  universal  and  genial  day,  it  is  not  so  much 
the  light  that  we  think  of,  as  the  varied  scene  which  it 
shows. 

But  the  fact  that  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles  is  repre- 
sented by  their  letters,  is  a  peculiarit}^  not  only  in  compari- 
son with  the  teaching  of  the  Prophets,  but  with  ancient 
teaching  in  general,  which  is  perpetuated  either  in  regular 


LeCT.  VI.  THE   EPISTLES.  157 

treatises  or  in  discourses  or  conversations  preserved  in 
writing.  The  form  adopted  in  the  New  Testament  combines 
the  advantages  of  the  treatise  and  the  conversation.  The 
letter  may  treat  important  suhjects  with  accuracy  and  ful- 
ness, but  it  will  do  so  in  immediate  connection  with  actual 
life.  It  is  written  to  meet  an  occasion.  It  is  addressed  to 
particular  states  of  mind.  It  breathes  of  the  heart  of  the 
writer.  It  takes  its  aim  from  the  exigencies  and  its  tone 
from  the  feelings  of  the  moment.  In  these  respects  it  suits 
well  with  a  period  of  instruction,  in  which  the  word  of  God 
is  to  be  given  to  men,  not  so  much  in  the  way  of  informa- 
tion, as  in  the  way  of  education;  or,  in  other  words,  in  which 
the  truth  is  to  be  delivered,  not  abstractedly,  but  with  a 
close  relation  to  the  condition  of  mind  of  its  recipients. 

Thus  it  is  delivered  in  the  Epistles.  Christ  has  been 
received  ;  Christian  life  has  commenced  ;  Christian  commu- 
nities have  been  formed ;  and  men's  minds  have  been  at 
work  on  the  great  principles  which  the^^  have  embraced. 
Some  of  these  principles  in  one  place,  and  others  of  them  in 
another,  have  been  imperfectly  grasped,  or  positively  per- 
verted, or  practically  misapplied,  so  as  to  call  for  explana- 
tion or  correction  ;  or  else  they  have  been  both  apprehended 
and  applied  so  worthily,  that  the  teacher,  filled  with  joy  and 
praise,  feels  able  to  open  out  the  mysteries  of  God,  as  one 
speaking  wisdom  among  them  that  are  perfect.  These  con- 
ditions of  mind  were  not  individual  accidents.  Rome,  Cor- 
inth, Galatia,  Ephesus,  supplied  examples  of  different  ten- 
dencies of  the  human  mind  in  connection  with  the  principles 
of  the  Gospel  —  tendencies  which  would  ever  recur,  and  on 
which  it  was  requisite  for  the  future  guidance  of  the  Church 
that  the  word  of  God  should  pronounce.  It  did  pronounce 
in  the  most  effectual  wa}^,  by  those  letters  which  are  ad- 

14 


158  THE    PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  VI. 

dressed  by  the  commissioners  of  Christ,  not  to  possible  but 
to  actual  cases,  with  that  largeness  of  view  which  belongs 
to  spectators  at  a  certain  distance  from  the  scene,  and  with 
that  closeness  of  application  which  personal  acquaintance 
dictates  and  personal  affection  inspires. 

Thus  the  fuller  expositions  of  truth  contained  in  the 
Epistles  are  based  on  what  the  first  principles  of  the  Gospel 
had  already  wrought  in  human  hearts  ;  and  its  doctrines 
are  cleared  and  settled,  developed  and  combined,  in  corre- 
spondence with  the  ascertained  capacities  and  necessities 
of  believers. 

II.  From  the  adaptation  of  the  form  I  pass  to  that  of  the 
method  which  the  apostolic  writings  employ  in  the  comple- 
tion of  evangelical  doctrine.  The  one  is  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  other.  It  is  a  method  of  companionship  rather 
than  of  dictation.  The  writer  does  not  announce  a  succes- 
sion of  revelations,  or  arrest  the  inquiries  which  he  encoun- 
ters in  men's  hearts  by  the  unanswerable  formula,  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord."  He  rouses,  he  animates,  he  goes  along 
with  the  working  of  men's  minds,  by  showing  them  the 
workings  of  his  own.  He  utters  his  own  convictions,  he 
pours  forth  his  own  experience,  he  appeals  to  others  to 
"judge  what  he  says,"  and  commends  his  words  "  to  their 
conscience  in  the  sight  of  God."  He  confutes  by  argument 
rather  than  b}^  authority,  deduces  his  conclusions  b}^  pro- 
cesses of  reasoning,  and  establishes  his  points  by  interpre- 
tations and  applications  of  the  former  Scriptures.  Such  a 
method  necessarily  creates  a  multitude  of  occasions  for  hesi- 
tation or  objection,  and  it  has  been  proposed  to  meet  these 
difficulties  by  the  principle,  that  we  are  bound  to  accept  the 
conclusions  as  matter  of  revelation,  but  not  to  assent  to  the 
validity  of  the  arguments  or  the  applicability  of  the  quota- 


LeCT.  VI.  THE   EPISTLES.  159 

tions.  The  more  we  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  particular 
passages  which  have  been  thought  to  require  that  qualifica- 
tion, the  more  we  feel  that  it  can  only  have  seemed  neces- 
sar3%  from  a  want  of  real  and  deep  harmony  with  the  mind 
of  Scripture.  But  I  have  no  call  to  enter  on  that  subject ; 
my  purpose  is  simply  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact,  that  not 
only  in  the  conclusions  given,  but  in  the  methods  emplo3^ed 
in  reaching  them,  there  is  an  outward  guidance  of  the 
Christian  mind  and  a  visible  purpose  to  provide  such 
guidance. 

Consider,  for  instance,  the  argument  on  justification  in 
the  early  part  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  which  accom- 
plishes every  step  by  the  aid  of  the  former  Scriptures.  Why 
all  this  labor  in  proving  what  might  have  been  decided  by 
a  simple  announcement  from  one  entrusted  with  the  word 
of  God  ?  Would  not  the  apostolic  declaration  that  such  a 
statement  was  error,  and  that  such  another  was  truth,  have 
sufficed  for  the  settlement  of  that  particular  question? 
Doubtless  !  but  it  would  not  have  suflSced  to  train  men's 
minds  to  that  thoughtfulness  whereby  truth  becomes  their 
own,  or  to  educate  them  to  the  living  use  of  the  Scriptures 
as  the  constituted  guide  of  inquiry. 

It  is  the  same  with  those  records  of  personal  experience, 
and  those  efiusions  of  personal  feeling,  which  teach  us  how 
the  revelation  of  Christ  tells  upon  the  believer's  heart.  We 
see,  for  instance,  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  chapters  of  the 
same  Epistle,  the  writer's  own  heart  thrown  open  ;  first  in 
its  passage  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death  to  the  law  of  the 
spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  then  in  the  assured  con- 
sciousness of  the  vast  and  various  blessings,  present  and 
future,  which  belong  to  the  children  of  God,  and  the  heirs 
together  with  Christ,  whom  nothing  shall  be  able  to  sepa- 


160  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  VI. 

rate  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  their 
Lord.  This  is  not  only  definite  information,  it  is  also  effect- 
ive education,  showing  the  revelation  of  God  as  wrought 
into  its  ultimate  and  subjective  form  ;  and  assisting  by  sym- 
pathy, and  ratifying  by  example,  the  same  processes  in  other 
hearts. 

Yet  we  should  speak  amiss,  if  we  represented  the  educa- 
tion of  Christian  thought  as  carried  on  in  the  Epistles  onl}' 
by  methods  which  seem  to  place  the  Apostle  on  the  same 
level  with  his  readers.  No  !  there  is  everywhere  present,  in 
the  lofty  and  unwavering  testimony,  the  sense  of  an  authority 
which  makes  all  things  sure;  and  whenever  occasions  arise, 
as  from  Galatian  perverseness  or  Corinthian  disorder,  it  as- 
serts its  unhesitating  and  uncompromising  claims.  Again, 
when  need  so  requires,  there  is  a  change  in  the  common 
method  ;  and  the  progress  of  doctrine  is  effected  in  the  pro- 
phetic manner,  by  definite  additions  to  former  revelations  ; 
as  when  St.  Paul  informs  the  Thessalonians,  *'in  the  word 
of  the  Lord,"  ^  of  some  particulars  not  before  made  known, 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  dead  and  the  living  will  meet 
the  Lord  at  his  appearing.  Thus  apostolical  authority  and 
direct  revelation  diffuse  over  the  Epistles  their  certainty 
and  their  majesty  ;  but  yet  the  presence  of  these  more  com- 
manding elements  is  not  suffered  to  overpower  that  general 
character  of  doctrine,  which  is  proper  for  those  who  are  of 
full  age,  and  who  have  themselves  "  an  unction  from  the 
Hol}^  One,  that  they  may  know  all  things."^  The  mind  of 
the  teacher  still  enters  into  a  free  companionship  with  the 
mind  that  is  taught,  so  as  to  exercise  and  educate  the  spir- 
itual faculties,  at  the  same  time  conducting  them  with  de- 

>  1  Thess.  iv.  13-17.  »  1  John  ii.  20. 


LeCT.  VI.  THE   EPISTLES.  161 

cisive  authority  to  conclusions  which  they  might  else  have 
failed  to  reach. 

III.  Turn  now  to  the  autJiorsJiip  of  these  writings.  If 
the  form  and  method  of  this  scheme  of  Christian  education 
are  important  features  of  it,  so  also  is  the  selection  of  its 
agents  ;  for  here,  as  in  other  departments  of  education,  we 
may  say  that  "  the  master  is  the  school." 

Who  are  the  appointed  teachers  of  the  Church  ?  Peter  and 
John,  the  two  chief  Apostles ;  James  and  Jude,  the  breth- 
ren of  the  Lord.  We  take  knowledge  of  them  that  they 
have  been  with  Jesus,  and  own  the  highest  authority  which 
association  with  him  can  give.  But  the  chief  place  in  this 
system  of  teaching  does  not  belong  to  any  one  of  them,  nor 
to  all  of  them  together.  Their  united  writings  form  but  a 
second  volume,  and  that  a  very  thin  one,  just  one-fifth  of 
the  bulk  of  the  first,  to  which  moreover  it  bears  in  some 
degree  a  kind  of  supplementary  relation.  The  oflSce  of 
working  out  the  principles  of  Christian  faith  into  full  pro- 
portions and  clearly  defined  forms  was  assigned  to  another, 
to  "  Paul,  the  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  called  to  be  an 
Apostle,  separated  unto  the  Gospel  of  God,  which  he  had 
promised  afore  by  his  Prophets  in  his  holy  Scriptures." 

Now  is  it  not  a  remarkable  and  almost  a  startling  fact, 
that  this  great  office  should  have  been  assigned  to  one  who 
had  not  been  a  witness  of  the  Lord's  life  on  earth,  and  had 
nothing  to  tell  of  things  which  he  had  seen  with  his  eyes, 
and  heard  with  his  ears,  and  his  hands  had  handled  of  the 
word  of  life?  We  remember  the  indispensable  importance 
of  this  qualification  for  the  original  apostleship,  as  ex- 
pressed on  the  appointment  of  Matthias  ;  "  Of  these  men 
which  have  companied  with  us  all  the  time  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  went  in  and  out  among  us,  beginning  from  the  bap- 

14* 


162  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  VI. 

tism  of  John  unto  that  same  day  in  which  he  was  taken  up 
from  us,  must  one  be  ordained  to  be  a  witness  with  us  of 
his  resurrection."  Yet  on  him  who  had  never  companied 
with  him,  or  even  with  them,  for  one  single  da}^,  the  most 
important,  or,  at  least,  the  most  extensive  and  enduring 
part  of  the  apostolic  work  devolved.  The  peculiar  quali- 
fications, which  in  other  respects  fitted  St.  Paul  for  the 
work  whereto  he  was  called,  have  ever  received  a  just  ap- 
preciation and  ample  treatment.  We  can  all  perceive  the 
active  habit,  the  fervent  spirit,  the  strong  will,  the  warm 
affections,  the  tender  sensibility,  the  exercised  intellect, 
the  subjective  tendencies  of  thought,  the  vivid  conscious- 
ness of  his  own  inward  history,  the  combination  of  Greek 
and  Hebrew  training,  the  thorough  grounding  of  the  mind 
in  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  the  profound  experience  of 
the  false  theory  of  Judaism,  in  its  effects  on  his  own  heart, 
and  in  the  practical  consequences  to  which  it  once  carried 
him ;  finall}^,  the  suddenness  with  which  the  Gospel  came 
upon  him,  making  him  to  know  with  a  singular  distinctness 
what  is  the  contrast  between  salvation  sought  by  law 
through  w^orks,  and  salvation  found  by  grace  through  faith, 
and  w^hat  is  the  change  in  the  whole  world  within,  when 
the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  makes  a  man 
free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death. 

Perhaps  it  is  commonly  felt  that  these  qualifications  out- 
weighed the  disadvantage  at  which  he  stood  in  comparison 
with  the  other  Apostles  who  had  been  with  Jesus,  and  that 
this  accounts  for  the  addition  to  their  number  of  one  in 
other  respects  specially  fitted  for  the  work,  although  born 
out  of  due  time.  But  it  will  better  consist  with  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  his  whole  history  must  be  judged,  if  we 


LeCT.  VI.  THE    EPISTLES.  163 

say,  that  his  being  born  out  of  clue  time  was  itself  one  of 
his  qualifications. 

Now  we  must  remember  that  it  is  the  Lord,  foreseeing 
and  foreordaining  all,  who  directs  the  course  of  these 
events.  If,  after  choosing  and  training  the*  Twelve,  he 
calls  another  man,  who  has  had  no  share  in  that  training, 
and  specially  commits  to  him  a  department  of  the  apostolic 
work,  we  cannot  speak  of  such  a  step  as  an  afterthought 
and  supplement,  as  we  might  do  if  it  occurred  in  some 
human"  undertaking,  in  which  the  original  arrangements 
had  proved  inadequate.  We  may  be  sure  that  the  call  of 
St.  Paul  after  the  manifestation  of  Christ  was  finished,  was 
as  much  a  part  of  the  divine  plan,  as  was  the  call  of  the 
Twelve  when  that  manifestation  was  beginning,  and  that 
the  later  call  must  have  corresponded  as  truly  with  Jiis 
appointed  work  as  the  earlier  call  did  with  theirs. 

We  are  here  led  to  the  more  distinct  observation,  that 
the  apostolic  testimony  was  twofold,  —  first  to  t\iQ  facts  of 
the  manifestation  of  Christ,  secondly  to  its  intended  conse- 
quences in  the  spiritual  state  of  man. 

It  was  necessary  that  those  who  were  to  represent  the 
Lord  to  the  world,  in  his  words  and  deeds,  his  mind  and 
life,  should  be  men  on  whose  hearts  the  holy  image  had 
been  stamped  by  closest  intercourse,  and  who  could  testify 
to  others  of  what  their  eyes  had  seen.  They  who  were  so 
qualified  did  their  work,  and  gave  the  knowledge  of  Jesus 
to  mankind.  Modem  study  traces  the  distinct  outlines, 
and  finds  the  solid  fragment  of  their  oral  narratives  de- 
j)Osited  in  the  written  Gospels.  Still  further,  St.  Luke's 
preface  shows  that  these  narratives  were  the  regular  instru- 
ments of  Chi'istian  education,  "  the  things  wherein  "  cate- 


164  THE   PROGEESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  VI. 

chumens  "were  instructed."^  This  kind  of  instruction 
has  found  its  permanent  form  in  the  fourfold  Gospel. 

But  believers  were  also  to  be  trained  to  the  full  appre- 
hension of  the  effects  of  the  manifestation  in  their  own 
spiritual  life.  The  apostolic  teaching  on  this  subject  is 
represented  forever  by  the  Epistles,  and  those  documents 
are  in  a  remarkable  degree  restricted  to  that  particular 
office.  We  should  naturally  have  expected  in  apostolic 
teaching  an  abundant  reference  to  the  words  and  acts  of 
our  Lord  Jesus,  as,  the  prolific  sources  of  instruction.  But 
we  do  not  find  such  reference,  nor  anything  like  it,  till  we 
come  to  the  Epistles  of  James,  Peter,  and  John,  and  catch 
again  the  sound  of  words  which  we  had  heard  from  their 
Master  and  ours.  The  great  doctor  of  the  Church  had  no 
such  remembrances.  His  relations  with  the  Lord  only 
commenced  after  Jesus  was  glorified  and  the  dispensation 
of  the  Spiidt  had  begun.  If  the  others  were  the  Apostles 
of  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  he  was  the  Apostle  of  its 
results;  and,  in  the  fact  of  passing  under  his  teaching,  we 
have  sufficient  warning  that  we  are  advancing  from  the 
lessons  which  the  life,  and  the  character,  and  the  words  of 
Jesus  gave,  into  the  distinct  exposition  of  the  redemption, 
the  reconciliation,  the  salvation  which  result  from  his  ap- 
pearing. In  this  way  it  was  provided  that  the  two  correla- 
tive kinds  of  teaching,  which  the  Church  received  at  the 
first,  should  be  left  to  the  Church  forever  in  the  distinct- 
ness of  their  respective  developments  ;  for  this  distinctness 
of  development  in  the  second  kind  of  teaching  is  both 
announced  and  secured  by  its  being  confided  to  St.  Paul. 

Yet  a  danger  might  arise ;  a  danger  which  did  attend 

1  Aoyoi  Trepl  uv  KarrixV^V^-     Luke  1.  4. 


LeCT.  VI.  THE   EPISTLES.  165 

his  living  ministr}^,  and  which  recent  theories  have  been 
eager  to  revive.  It  might  appear,  that  the  Gospel  which 
he  preached  was  not  so  much  a  stage  of  progress  as  an 
individual  variety,  and  that  in  following  it  out  we  had 
diverged  from  the  track  of  the  original  doctrine,  and  were 
no  longer  sustained  by  the  authority  of  the  Twelve. 

The  Twelve,  therefore,  are  joined  with  St.  Paul,  as 
authors  together  with  him  of  the  doctrinal  canon  of  the 
Church,  fulfilling  this  office  through  Peter  and  John,  their 
natural  leaders  and  original  representatives,  and  in  a  more 
restricted  measure  through  James  and  Jude,  the  brethren 
of  the  Lord,  to  the  former  of  whom,  in  the  second  stage  of 
the  Church's  history,  so  eminent  and  peculiar  a  position  is 
assigned.  Had  we  been  permitted  to  choose  our  instructors 
from  among  "  the  glorious  company,"  three  of  these  names 
at  least  would  have  been  uttered  by  every  tongue ;  and 
besides  our  desire  to  be  taught  by  their  lips,  we  should,  as 
disciples  of  St.  Paul,  have  felt  a  natural  anxiety  to  know 
whether  "  James,  Cephas,  and  John,  who  seemed  to  be 
pillars,"  "  added  nothing  to,"  ^  and  took  nothing  from,  the 
substance  of  the  doctrine  which  we  had  received  through 
him.  It  was  the  will  of  God  that  this  anxiety  should  be 
met.  We  have  not  been  left  to  conjectures  and  surmises. 
We  have  words  from  these  very  Apostles,  expressing  the 
mind  of  their  later  life,  words  in  which  we  recognize  the 
mellow  tone  of  age,  the  settled  manner  of  an  old  experience, 
and  the  long  habit  of  Christian  thought.  We  not  only  meet 
the  men  whom  we  should  wish  to  hear,  but  we  meet  them  at 
the  point  where  we  should  wish  to  hear  them,  now  the 
venerated  authorities  in  the  Church  which  they  had  long 

^Galatians  ii.  9. 


166         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    Lect.  VI. 

since  founded,   and    fully   cognizant    of   its    intervening 
history. 

Thus,  if  the  collection  of  Epistles  be  intended  to  exhibit 
the  fulness  and  maturity  of  Christian  doctrine,  the  selection 
of  its  authors  corresponds  to  the  end  in  view ;  the  man 
who  is  best  fitted  to  conduct,  being  associated  with  the 
men  who  are  best  fitted  to  confirm,  the  exposition  and 
development  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

IV.  In  the  last  place  I  must  advert,  though  it  is  only 
possible  to  do  so  very  slightly,  to  the  relative  characters  of 
the  several  Epistles,  as  complementary^  one  to  another,  and 
constituent  parts  of  one  body  of  teaching. 

1.  The  Pauline  Epistles  appear,  with  ver}^  small  varia- 
tion, to  have  been  habitual  1}^  ranged  in  that  order  in  which 
we  read  them  now  ;  and  it  is  one  which  on  the  whole,  and 
in  a  certain  measure,  produces  the  effect  of  a  course  of  doc- 
trine. They  fall  naturally  into  groups,  which  stand,  rela- 
tively to  each  other,  in  the  places  which  they  ought  to 
occupy  for  purposes  of  progressive  instruction.  The 
Epistles  to  the  Romans,  Corinthians,  and  Galatians  have  a 
corrective  and  decisive  character.  They  are  the  voice  of 
the  doctor  of  the  Church,  expounding  with  blended  argu- 
ment and  authority  the  meaning  and  the  bearing  of  the 
principles  of  the  Gospel  which  his  hearers  had  already  re- 
ceived ;  so  as  to  decide  the  uncertainties,  and  correct  the 
divergences,  which  will  always  characterize  every  second 
stage  in  the  history  of  truth.  When  the  enjoyment  of  a 
new  discovery  passes  into  reflection  upon  it,  and  im- 
pressions begin  to  define  themselves  in  words,  and  "  good 
tidings  "  are  shaping  themselves  into  doctrines  and  laws  of 
life,  a  time  of  danger  and  necessity  has  come.  Then  the 
vagueness  and  the  incorrectness  of  many  first  impressions 


LeCT.  VI.  THE   EPISTLES.  167 

come  to  light ;  then  old  habits  of  thought  are  found  still  to 
survive,  and  old  principles  return  to  enter  into  damaging 
or  destructive  combination  v»'ith  those  by  which  they  had 
seemingly  been  expelled.  Then,  through  treacherous  arts, 
through  perverse  moral  tendencies,  and  even  through  logical 
weakness,  the  tender  system  of  truth  may  suffer,  in  the 
period  of  its  formation,  injuries  which  will  be  forever 
fatal.  The  reader  of  the  first  three  Epistles  finds  himself 
in  the  presence  of  such  a  state  of  things,  and  feels  that  the 
necessities,  which  are  there  met  by  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
would,  if  not  thus  provided  for,  have  destroyed  all  security 
in  any  further  advance  of  thought. 

Especially  in  this  point  of  view  does  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  claim  the  place  which  it  has  habitually  held  as  the 
first  step  in  the  epistolary  course.  The  subject  on  which  it 
gives  a  full  and  decisive  exposition  is  not  only  vital  but  fun- 
damental ;  namely,  the  need,  the  nature,  and  the  effects  of  the 
justification  for  individual  souls  which  the  Gospel  preaches 
and  which  faith  receives.  As  there  can  be  no  repose  for  a  soul 
while  that  first  point  of  personal  anxiety,  "  How  can  man 
be  just  with  God  ? "  is  left  unsettled;  so  there  can  be  no 
solidity  for  a  system  of  doctrine  till  the  true  answer  to  that 
question  has  been  distinctly  shaped  and  firmly  deposited. 
Moreover,  if  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  fitly  opens  the 
whole  evangelical  record  by  connecting  it  with  the  former 
Scriptures,  so  also  for  the  same  reason  does  this  great 
Epistle  fitly  open  the  doctrinal  series :  for  what  the  one 
does  in  respect  of  fact,  the  other  does  in  respect  of  doc- 
trine, justifying  throughout  the  intimation  with  which  it 
opens  that  the  Gospel  will  here  be  treated  as  that  "  which 
God  had  promised  before  by  his  prophets  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures."     In  the  constant  references,  and  in  the  whole 


168         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    I^ECT.  VI. 

line  of  argument,  we  see  the  illustrious  genealogy  and 
lineal  descent  of  the  Christian  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith,  traced,  like  that  of  Jesus  himself,  from  Abraham  and 
David,  and  vindicated  by  the  witness  of  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets ;  so  that  we  enter  on  the  final  exposition  of  the 
truth  with  a  settled  sense  that  in  all  the  successive  stages 
of  its  revelation  the  truth  has  still  been  one. 

In  the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  we  have  passed  into 
another  region  of  thought,  conversing  now  among  the 
Greeks  who  seek  after  wisdom.  In  the  presence  of  a  spirit 
of  self-confident  freedom,  both  in  thought  and  conduct,  or, 
in  other  words,  in  presence  of  the  essential  spirit  of  the 
world,  rising  again  like  a  returning  tide,  the  Gospel  de- 
velops its  divine  and  indefeasible  authority,  claims  the 
subjection  of  the  mind,  and  regulates  the  life  of  the 
Church. 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  it  encounters,  not  the 
spirit  of  a  presumptuous  freedom,  but  the  spirit  of  a  wilful 
bondage,  which  returns  after  its  own  stubborn  and  insen- 
sate fashion  to  the  elements  of  the  world  and  of  the  flesb. 
In  repelling  this  tendency,  the  apostolic  doctrine  asserts 
more  strongly  than  ever  its  character  as  a  revelation  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  shines  out  more  clearly  as  a  dispensation 
of  spirit  and  of  liberty. 

Thus  in  the  first  three  Epistles  the  first  questions  have 
been  answered  and  the  first  dangers  averted  ;  and  the  apos- 
tolic or  Pauline  doctrine  has  established  its  divine  charac- 
ter ^  and  developed  its  essential  features. 

»  In  the  Romans,  by  connecting  itself  with 'the  inspiration  of  the 
Old  Testament ;  in  the  Corinthians  and  Galatians,  by  asserting  its 
own  (see  especially  1  Cor.  ii.  and  Gal.  i.) 


LeCT.  VI.  THE    EPISTLES.  169 

The  following  Epistles  differ  from  this  first  group  in  tlie 
comparative  absence  of  the  controversial  attitude  and  of  the 
judicial  tone.  As  those  whose  minds  are  now  cleared,  set- 
tled, and  secured,  we  readily  follow  the  Apostle  to  that  more 
calm  and  lofty  stage  of  thought  on  which  he  stands  in  his 
Epistles  to  the  Ephesians  and  Colossians  ;  when,  no  longer 
in  collision  with  human  error,  he  expatiates  in  the  view  of 
the  eternal  purposes  of  God,  and  of  the  ideal  perfections  of 
the  Church  in  Christ.  If  inspiration  was  asserted  in  the 
other  Epistles,  here  it  is  felt.  We  hear,  not  as  before,  the 
doctor  of  the  Church  expounding,  confuting,  and  deciding, 
but  rather  a  prophet  of  truth  speaking  as  "one  borne  along 
by  the  Holy  Ghost."  ^  Yet  in  both  Epistles  this  high  strain 
passes  by  the  most  natural  transition  into  the  plainest  coun- 
sels, and  in  the  intervening  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  the 
voice  is  not  that  of  a  prophet  but  of  a  friend. 

Finall}^,  the  Thessalonian  Epistles  complete  St.  Paul's 
addresses  to  seven  Churches,  and,  though  first  in  the  date 
of  production,  may  fitly  be  read  last  in  the  permanent  order, 
as  being  specially  distinguished  by  the  eschatological  ele- 
ment, and  sustaining  the  conflict  of  faith  by  the  preaching 
of  "  that  blessed  hope  "  and  "the  glorious  appearing  and 
the  coming  of  the  day  of  God."  ^ 

To  this  body  of  doctrine  the  Pastoral  Epistles  add  their 
suggestive  words,  on  the  principles  and  spirit  of  that  office, 
which  is  at  once  a  government  to  order  the  Church  and  a 

1  vnb  TTvevnaro^  aytov  (j>ep6fievoc.  Who  can  read  Eph.  i.  and  il.  with- 
out being  reminded  of  this  expression  of  St.  Peter,  by  the  sustained 
swell  and  unbroken  flow  of  the  thoughts  and  language  ? 

2  A  characteristic  made  very  noticeable  in  the  present  division 
by  chapters,  each  chapter  in  the  first  Epistle  closing  with  the  men- 
tion of  this  subject. 

15 


170         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRIXE.     LeCT.  VI. 

ministry  to  serve  it ;  so  that,  in  the  acknowledged  writings 
of  St.  Paul,  we  advance  from  the  first  momentous  question 
of  justification  for  individual  souls,  through  a  thousand 
various  exigencies  and  unfoldings  of  the  life  of  faith,  till 
we  reach  the  outer  circle  of  ministerial  provision  for  the 
care  of  the  Church  and  the  stewardship  of  the  truth. 

2.  But,  in  passing  through  this  course  of  teaching,  we 
have  been  in  continual  contact  with  the  reminiscences,  the 
ideas,  the  imagery,  and  the  language  which  are  natural  to 
one  who  was  by  origin  and  training  a  Hebrew  of  the  He- 
brews. With  all  his  evangelical  expansiveness  of  spirit, 
and  all  his  antagonism  to  the  false  theory  of  the  Jewish  sys- 
tem, he  yet  has  taught  the  things  of  Christ,  and  presented 
the  universal  salvation,  under  forms  of  speech  and  in  a  cast 
of  thought  which  are  derived  from  the  school  of  the  Law. 
Every  moment  it  becomes  a  more  serious  question,  whether 
this  language  is  to  be  allowed  for,  as  inaccurate  in  itself 
but  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case  Inevitable,  or 
whether  it  is  to  be  insisted  on,  as  the  method  prepared  in 
the  purpose  of  God  for  the  most  adequate  expression  of 
spiritual  truth.  The  question  was  indeed  decided  by  the 
two  facts,  that  the  old  covenant  itself  was  a  divine  ordi- 
nance, and  that  its  historical  relations  with  the  new  cove- 
nant were  a  divine  provision.  Still  it  was  of  high  impor- 
tance to  the  clearness  and  fixedness  of  the  doctrine,  that  this 
connection  between  the  two  covenants  should  be  deliber- 
ately shown  to  consist,  not  in  rhetorical  illustration,  but  in 
a  divinely  intended  system  of  analogies.  This  is  the  per- 
manent office  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which,  if  not 
St.  Paul's,  is  confessedly  Pauline,  and,  apparently  on  ac- 
count of  its  uncertified  authorship,  has  usually  taken  its  place 
in  succession  to  his  acknowledged  writings.     In  its  origin 


LeCT.  VI.  THE    EPISTLES.  171 

it  evidently  belongs  to  the  last  hour  of  transition  and  decis- 
ion, when  s\t  large  number  of  men,  who  were  at  once  Jews 
and  Christians,  stood  perplexed,  agitated,  and  almost  dis- 
tracted, as  they  seemed  to  feel  the  gi'ound  parting  beneath 
their  feet,  and  hardly  knew  whether  to  throw  theniselves 
back  on  that  which  was  receding,  or  forward  on  that  to 
which  they  were  called  to  cling.  In  an  intense  sympathy 
with  this  perplexity,  and  even  anguish,  prevailing  in  the 
Hebrew-Christian  mind,  and  in  an  intense  anxiety  as  to  its 
issue,  the  Epistle  was  written ;  a  living  voice  of  power  in  a 
time  of  change  and  fear,  yet  a  comprehensive  exposition  of 
the  advancing  course  of  revelation,  and  of  the  relation  be- 
tween its  two  great  stages.  But  more  particularly  is  it  to 
be  noticed  here,  that  this  Epistle  throws  a  stronger  light 
than  other  writings  had  done  upon  the  progress  of  doctrine 
during  the  Christian  period  itself.  For,  first,  it  expressly 
recognizes  the  fact  that  "  the  word  of  the  beginning  of 
Christ"^  had  been  enlarged  by  intervening  teaching  into  a 
*'  perfection,"  which  many  of  those  who  are  here  addressed 
had  sinfully  and  shamefully  failed  to  receive ;  the  teachers 
sent  from  God  having  wrought  out  for  them  full  expositions 
of  truth,  to  which  their  old  prepossessions  had  closed  their 
hearts.  And,  secondly,  it  exhibits  the  further  fact,  that 
this  perfecting  of  the  truth,  by  the  full  and  definite  inter- 
pretation of  the  principles  of  the  Gospel,  had  been  accom- 
plished by  means  of  the  true  reading  of  the  Old  Testament 
in  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ.^^^ 

3.  From  the  Pauline  writings  we  pass  to  the  collection  of 

'  Heb.  vi.  1.  u<l>EVTec  rbv  ttjc  apxvc  tov  Xfitarov  T^yov  ettI  ttjv  reXetoTTjTa 
<l>€p6fieda :  "  Leaving  the  word  of  the  beginning  of  Christ,  let  us  go 
on  to  perfection." 


172  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  Lect.  VI. 

the  Catholic  Epistles.  For  all  internal  reasons  they  are 
better  read  in  the  place  which  they  occupy  in  our  Bibles 
than  that  in  which  the  older  manuscripts  generally  assign 
them,  preceding  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul ;  for  they  are  in 
effect  the  confirmation  and  the  supplement  of  his  doctrine.^ 

This  character  cannot  here  be  proved,  and  it  scarcely 
needs  to  be,  for  it  is  now  in  the  main  acknowledged.  The 
personal  characteristics  of  these  writers  are  unlike  those  of 
St.  Paul ;  the  aspects  of  the  truth  are  different,  but  the  sub- 
stance and  the  features  are  the  same.  Each  writer,  by  the 
strongly  distinguished  lines  of  his  own  individuality,  makes 
still  more  conspicuous  the  unity  of  the  common  faith. 

The  Epistle  of  St.  James  alone  makes  at  first  sight  an 
opposite  impression,  and  instead  of  harmonizing  with  the 
full  development  of  evangelical  doctrine,  may  appear  to 
belong  to  an  earlier,  or  rather  a  retrograde  stage ;  and  if 
taken  as  an  intended  exposition  of  the  essential  features  of 
Christian  truth,  it  might  be  thought  to  imply  an  Ebionite 
view  of  the  Gospel,  and  even  to  betra}^  an  Ebionite  origin. 
But  the  careful  and  candid  student  sees  that  the  language 
emplo3'ed  distinctly  presupposes  the  evangelical  doctrine, 
and  by  supplementing  other  expositions  of  it  does  in  fact 
acknowledge  and  confirm  them.^^^^ 

The  harmonj'  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  John 
with  the  Pauline  doctrine  is  sufficiently  obvious,  and  the 
former  Apostle  not  only  practically  (as  is  the  case  in  an 
eminent  degree) ,  but  pointedly  and  professedly  sets  his  seal 
to  the  development  which  the  Gospel  had  received  in  the 
teaching  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  assuring  those  who 
had  accepted  the  doctrine  that  "  this  is  the  true  grace  of 

^  See  the  latter  part  of  Note  I.  iu  reference  to  this  arrangement. 


Lect.  YT.  the  epistles.  173 

God  wherein  ye  stand  ;  "  '  and  again,  instructing  those  to 
whom  the  " beloved  brother  Paul"  had  written  "  according 
to  the  wisdom  given  unto  him,"  that  they  are  to  regard 
those  writings  as  on  a  level  with  "  the  other  Scriptures."^ 

On  the  Gospel  doctrine  itself,  which  is  thus  confirmed,  a 
fresh  light  seems  to  be  thrown  by  the  spirit  of  these  precious 
Epistles,  the  faitJi  expounded  by  St.  Paul  kindling  into  fer- 
vent Jiope  in  the  words  of  St.  Peter,  and  expanding  into 
sublime  love  in  those  of  St.  John.  At  the  same  time  the 
reader  cannot  fail  to  note  how  these  writings  of  the  original 
Apostles,  by  express  references,  by  borrowed  language,  and 
by  their  whole  spirit,  seem  to  bind  the  doctrine  which  the 
Epistles  have  developed  to  the  Gospels  in  which  it  first 
began  to  be  opened.  Finally,  he  may  observe  with  admira- 
tion the  singular  fitness  of  the  few  words  of  St.  Jude  to  close 
the  series  of  writings,  through  which  the  faith  has  been 
wrought  out  and  consigned  to  the  Church  forever.  It  only 
remains  for  our  last  instructor  to  exhort  us  "  earnestly  to 
contend  for  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints;"  to 
warn  us  of  the  dangers  of  relapse  ;  to  entreat  us  "to  build 
ourselves  up  on  our  holy  faith,  and  praying  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  keep  ourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  looking  for  the 
mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life ; "  and, 
finally,  to  commend  us  "to  him  who  is  able  to  keep  us  from 
falling,  and  to  present  us  faultless  before  the  presence  of 
his  gloi-y  with  exceeding  joy." 

With  such  charges,  warnings,  and  commendatory  prayers 
is  the  didactic  portion  of  the  New  Testament  left  in  our 
hands.  We  have  now  observed  its  function  in  the  whole 
scheme  of  instruction,  as  addressed  to  those  who  have  be- 

»  1  Peter  v.  12.  «  2  Peter  ill.  16. 

16* 


174  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.  LeCT.  VI. 

lieved  the  Gospel,  for  the  furtherance  and  perfecting  of 
their  education  in  Christ.  We  have  seen  that  it  is  adapted 
to  this  work  by  the  epistolary  form^  which  contemplates 
those  who  are  addressed  as  partakers  in  the  same  life  with 
those  who  address  them,  and  as  brethren  in  the  family  of 
God.  Secondly,  by  the  metJiod  adopted,  in  which  the 
teacher,  putting  forth  all  the  varieties  of  his  own  mental 
energies,  exercises  and  trains  the  spiritual  faculties  of  those 
who  are  taught,  while  conducting  them  to  definite  and  ascer- 
tained conclusions.  Thirdly,  by  the  appointment  of  the 
chief  autJior,  whose  proper  work  only  commences  at  the 
point  where  the  testimony  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ  in 
the  flesh  is  finished,  and  passes  into  the  testimony  of  his 
present  relations  with  men  in  the  spirit.  Lastly,  by  the 
relative  characters  of  the  collected  writings,  whereby  the 
exigencies  of  the  spiritual  life  are  met  at  every  point  and 
provided  for  in  natural  though  informal  succession. 

In  concluding  this  survey  I  would  sugest  two  questions 
which  it  may  well  leave  upon  our  minds.  First,  What  is  our 
own  experience  of  the  exigencies  thus  provided  for  ?  The 
Gospel  history  accepted  as  true,  some  general  statements 
concerning  its  consequences  adopted,  and  a  position  in  the 
Christian  community  assumed  —  these  things  seem  to  sat- 
isfy the  minds  of  man}^  among  us.  We  see  that  the  word 
of  God  does  not  contemplate  so  sudden  and  easy  a  satisfac- 
tion. It  supposes  that  the  believer  in  Jesus  has  entered  on 
a  vast  world  of  life  and  thought.  It  supposes  the  exist- 
ence of  inquiries,  anxieties,  aspirations.  It  supposes  a 
mind  thoroughly  aroused  by  the  importance,  the  grandeur, 
and  the  glory  of  the  truth  which  has  come  before  it  —  a 
mind  which  purposes  with  itself  "  to  apprehend  the  things 
for  which  also  it  is  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus."    It  sup- 


Lect.  YI.  the  epistles.  175 

poses  the  existence  of  hiudrances,  difficulties,  oppositions 
—  things  to  be  struggled  through,  as  well  as  things  to  be 
striven  after.  What  do  you  know  of  all  this  ?  Till  j^ou  do 
know  something  of  it,  the  Epistles  are  not  for  you.  They 
are  not  written  to  suit  a  cool  indifference,  or  to  gratif}^  a 
taste  for  discussion.  The  real  condition  for  their  use  is  the 
existence  of  that  inward  life  for  the  necessities  of  which 
they  provide.  A  man  must  turn  the  pages  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans  with  a  sense  of  perplexity  and  distaste,  if  his 
own  heart  own  no  serious  inquir}^  after  the  righteousness  of 
God.  The  discover}^  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  of  all 
that  is  transacted  within  the  veil,  by  the  effectual  ministry 
of  the  eternal  Priest,  can  have  for  him  but  the  slight  inter- 
est which  may  attach  to  ingenious  typology,  if  he  feel  no 
dail}^  necessity  to  come  himself  to  the  throne  of  grace  to 
obtain  mercy  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need  ;  and 
the  glorious  standard  of  Christian  character  which  every 
Epistle  offers  can  but  repel  him,  as  something  overstrained 
and  inapplicable  to  actual  life,  if  he  have  not  recognized 
himself  as  bought  with  the  precious  blood  and  risen  again 
with  Christ.  The  whole  scheme  and  course  of  teaching, 
meant  for  those  who  are  "  called  to  be  saints,"  loses  not 
only  its  force  but  its  meaning  for  those  who  have  no  such 
project  as  those  words  imply. 

The  second  question  is  this :  If  the  exigencies  which  are 
thus  supposed  are  really  felt  by  us,  what  use  do  we  make 
of  the  word  which  is  given  to  meet  them  ?  We  have  seen 
that  that  word  does  not  lead  us  to  the  entrance  of  the  Chris- 
tian life  and  then  leave  us  at  the  threshold.  It  recognizes 
fully,  it  warmly  enters  into,  all  those  anxious  questions 
which  arise  in  your  hearts,  as  to  the  real  nature  of  the  work 
of  Christ  in  which  you  are  taught  to  trust,  of  that  salvation 


176  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRmE.  LeCT.  VI. 

which  you  desire  to  receive,  of  that  life  which  you  are 
called  to  lead,  of  those  relations  to  God  in  which  you  are 
placed,  of  those  great  prospects  which  lie  before  you.  And 
shall  negligence  or  distrust  deprive  you  of  the  assistance 
thus  prepared,  and  leave  you  to  encounter  the  thoughts 
which  crowd  upon  the  awakened  soul,  as  if  you  had  to  deal 
with  those  onl}^  by  means  of  your  own  resources  ?  You  are 
not  so  left.  For  those  within  the  Church,  those  who  have 
received  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  those  who  own  the  holy 
calling,  all  this  teaching  is  made  ready.  To  them  it  is 
expressly  addressed,  and  for  their  various  necessities  it  is 
adapted.  But  it  does  not  yield  its  true  uses  to  a  critical 
reference  or  an  occasional  consultation  ;  only  thi-ough  a  con- 
stant companionship  and  familiar  intercourse  does  it  tell 
effectually  for  its  destined  ends,  and  accomplish  the  blessed 
transformation  of  the  poverty  and  vanity  of  this  poor  hu- 
man life  into  the  glory  and  reality  of  a  life  that  is  in  Christ. 


LECTUKE    YII. 

THE    EPISTLES. 

OF  HIM  ARE  YE  IN  CHRIST  JESUS.  — 1  CoT.  i.  30. 

I  TAKE  this  text,  because  it  appears  to  me  to  contain  the 
fundamental  idea  which  underlies  the  whole  range  of  the 
Epistles,  and  gives  the  specific  character  to  their  doctrine. 

The  specific  character  of  their  doctrine,  as  compared  with 
the  preceding  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  is  the  question 
which  lies  before  me  now. 

Some  kind  of  doctrinal  progress  must  necessarily  be  at- 
tributed to  these  writings,  if  their  words  are  taken  as  words 
of  God  ;  for  everything  in  them  which  is  not  simple  repeti- 
tion must  be  in  some  sense  addition,  either  giving  informa- 
tion wholly  new,  or  explaining,  enlarging,  and  arranging 
that  which  former  teachings  had  imparted. 

It  would  therefore  be  fit,  at  the  point  which  these  Lec- 
tures have  reached,  to  make  some  collection  of  these  addi- 
tions, or  rather  some  selection  of  the  chief  instances  of 
them  ;  unless  it  should  appear  that  this  stage  of  the  prog- 
ress of  doctrine  is  marked  by  such  distinctive  features,  as 
suflSce  by  themselves  to  describe  the  nature  of  the  advance 
which  has  been  made,  and  to  supersede  the  accumulation  of 
particulars  by  the  peculiarity  of  a  general  character. 

I.  In  what  has  been  already  advanced  the  existence  of 
such  a  general  character  has  been  implied,  and  its  nature 
has  been  in  some  degree  defined. 

We  have  looked  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospels  as  the 

177 


178  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.         LeCT.  VII. 

manifestation  of  Christ  to  men,  giving  the  conditions  and 
the  materials  of  a  spiritual  life  which  was  to  follow.  We 
have  looked  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
as  the  preaching  of  Christ  to  men,  summing  up  the  results 
of  his  appearing,  proclaiming  him  with  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit,  and  gathering  those  who  receive  him  into  the  form 
and  the  life  of  a  Church.  We  have  observed  that  the  Epis- 
tles take  up  the  line  of  teaching  at  this  point,  being  a  voice 
within  that  Church  to  those  who  are  themselves  within  it ; 
that  they  are  appropriated  by  their  superscriptions  to  those 
who  are  already  called,  separated,  and  sanctified  in  Christ ; 
that  they  are  marked  by  their  form  and  method  as  instru- 
ments of  education  to  the  spiritual  life  after  it  has  begun ; 
and  that  the  appointment  of  their  chief  author  implies  the 
purpose  of  teaching  things  which  followed  the  completion 
of  the  work  of  Christ  on  earth,  in  his  offices  and  ministra- 
tions in  heaven,  and  in  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit 
amongst  men.  If  the  actual  contents  of  the  Epistles  cor- 
respond with  these  intimations,  their  doctrine  must  neces- 
sarily bear  a  specific  character  as  compared  with  that  of  the 
Gospels  and  the  Acts.  As  the  manifestation  of  Christ  when 
it  was  finished  made  way  for  the  preaching  of  Christ,  so  the 
preaching  of  Christ  when  it  has  been  received  opens  into 
the  life  in  Christ.  The  Epistles  presuppose  the  existence 
of  this  life,  both  in  the  community  and  in  the  individual, 
and  their  doctrine  is  directed  to  educate  and  develop  it. 
The  fundamental  thought  in  every  page  is  that  expressed 
in  my  text,  "  Of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus." 

They  are  litle  words,  but  they  make  an  announcement  of 
vast  significance  and  boundless  consequences.  Writer 
and  readers  regard  themselves  and  each  other  as  having 
now  entered  on  an  existence,  which  for  spiritual   beings 


Lect.  YII.  the  epistles.  179 

seems  the  only  real  one.  ^iYe  are"  says"  the  Apostle. 
After  speaking  of  "  things  that  are  not,"  and  of  "  things 
that  are,"  he  turns  to  his  fellow-believers,  and  says,  "  but 
ye  are.''  And  whence  is  this  existence  found?  From 
Jiim^  from  God  himself,  as  its  immediate  origin  and  still 
continuous  author.  And  where  is  it  found?  "In  Christ 
Jesus." 

In  Christ  Jesus  !  As  the  simple  voice  of  faith  this  word 
is  ever  uttered  with  }oy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory. 
But  preacher  or  commentator,  who  may  attempt  to  sound 
the  depths  or  open  the  treasures  of  its  meaning,  must  feel 
his  tongue  falter  under  the  sense  of  the  inadequacy  of 
every  explaining  word.  Let  us,  however,  at  least  assert 
the  reality  of  the  fact  which  it  expresses,  for  it  is  no  sym- 
bolical form  of  speech,  but  the  statement  of  a  fact,  as  real 
in  regard  to  the  spirit  as  the  fact  of  our  being  in  the  world 
is  real  in  regard  to  the  body. 

How  does  the  vivid  consciousness  of  this  reality  glow  in 
the  pages  which  are  before  us  now !  Christ  has  been 
manifested,  preached,  received ;  and  what  is  the  state 
which  has  ensued,  as  exhibited  in  the  consciousness  of 
those  who  have  received  them  ?  They  are  not  merely  pro- 
fessors of  his  name,  learners  of  his  doctrine,  followers  of 
his  example,  sharers  in  his  gifts.  I  may  go  further.  They 
are  not  merely  men  ransomed  by  his  death,  or  destined 
for  his  glory.  These  are  all  external  kinds  of  connection, 
in  which  oui'  separate  life  is  related  to  his  life  only  as 
one  man's  life  may  be  related  to  another's  by  the  effect 
of  what  he  teaches,  of  what  he  gives,  and  of  what  he 
does.    But  it  is  assumed  in  the  Epistles,  that  believers  in 

1  ef  avTOv. 


180  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTEINE.         LeCT.  VII. 

Jesus  are  no  longer  living  a  life  that  is  only  external, 
and,  as  it  were,  parallel  to  his  life.  They  are  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  he  also  is  in  them. 

At  the  close  of  his  manifestation  he  foretold  a  state  of 
consciousness,  which  his  disciples  had  not  attained  while 
he  was  with  them  in  the  flesh,  but  which  would  be  enjoyed 
by  them  under  the  succeeding  dispensation.  "At  that 
day  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me, 
and  I  in  you."  ^  The  language  of  the  Epistles  is  the  echo 
of  this  promise.  It  is  the  voice  of  those  who  have  entered 
on  the  predicted  knowledge,  and  who  view  all  subjects  in 
the  light  of  it. 

They  know  that  the  Lord  Jesus  '''•is  in  the  Father;"  or, 
as  it  is  more  fully  and  distinctly  expressed  by  himself,  that 
"  he  is  in  the  FatJier,  and  the  Father  in  him;"^  not  indeed 
with  that  character  of  knowledge  which  belongs  to  a  later 
age,  when  abstract  dogmatic  statements  were  fashioned 
from  their  warm  and  living  words,  but  rather  with  that 
kind  of  knowledge,  to  secure  which  to  the  Church  forever 
those  statements  were  needed  and  were  framed.  These 
writers  know  the  truth,  that  the  Father  is  in  the  Son,  as 
constituting  the  power  of  the  work  of  Christ  on  earth ;  and 
the  truth  that  the  Son  is  in  the  Father,  as  constituting  the 
power  of  his  mediation  in  heaven.  On  the  one  side,  "  God 
was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself ;"''  on 
the  other,  it  is  "  with  Christ  in  God'**  that  the  Christianas 
present  life  is  hid. 

Furthermore,  these  writers  know  that  believers  are  in 
Christ  and  Christ  in  them,  and  show  that  knowledge,  not 

1  John  xiv.  20.  2  ibid.  x.  38 ;  xiv.  10 ;  and  xvii.  21. 

3  2  Cor.  v.  19.  4  Col.  ill.  3. 


LeCT.  VII.  THE    EPISTLES.  181 

only  b}^  frequent  assertions  and  a  universal  supposition  of 
a  close  and  vital  union  between  the  members  and  ttie  head, 
but  by  a  full  development  of  both  the  aspects  of  this  union, 
which  the  words  of  the  Lord  present. 

Believers  are  in  Christ,  so  as  to  be  partakers  in  all  that 
he  does,  and  has,  and  is.  They  died  with  him,  and  rose 
with  him,  and  live  with  him,  and  in  him  are  seated  in 
heavenly  places.  When  the  eye  of  God  looks  on  them  they 
are  found  in  Christ,  and  there  is  no  condemnation  to  those 
that  are  in  him,  and  the}^  are  righteous  in  his  righteousness, 
and  loved  with  the  love  which  rests  on  him,  and  are  sons 
of  God  in  his  sonship,  and  heirs  with  him  of  his  inheritance, 
and  are  soon  to  be  glorified  with  him  in  his  glory.  And 
this  standing  which  the}^  have  in  Christ,  and  the  present 
and  future  portion  which  it  secures,  are  contemplated  in 
eternal  counsels,  and  predestined  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world. 

As  the  sense  of  this  fact  breathes  in  every  page,  so  also 
does  the  sense  of  the  correlative  fact,  that  Christ  is  in  those 
who  believe;  associating  his  own  presence  with  their  whole 
inward  and  outward  life.  They  know  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
in  them,  except  they  be  reprobates  ^  (rejected  ones).  They 
live,  yet  not  they,  but  Christ  liveth  in  them,^  and  he  ^  is  their 
strength  and  their  song."*  This  indwelling  of  Christ  is  by 
the  Hol}^  Ghost,  so  that  the  same  passages  speak  inter- 
changeably of  the  Spirit  being  in  us,  and  of  Christ  being 
in  us  ;  ^  or  of  the  Holy  Ghost  being  in  us,  and  our  members 
being  the  members  of  Christ:^  and  so  this  word,  "/in 
you,"  includes  the  whole  life  of  the  Spirit  in  man,  with  all 

1  2  Cor.  xiii.  5.  2  Gal.  ii.  20.  3  The  ivSwdntov  Xpioros. 

*  Phil.  iv.  13.  5  Rom.  viii.  9,  10.      ^  i  Cor.  vi.  15,  19. 

16 


182         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  VII. 

its  discoveries,  impulses,  and  achievements,  its  victory  over 
the  world,  its  conversation  in  heaven,  and  earnest  of  the 
final  inheritance. 

Thus,  through  the  different  but  correlative  relations  rep- 
resented b}^  the  words,  "Ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you,"  human 
life  is  constituted  a  life  in  Christ;  and,  through  the  still 
higher  mystery  of  the  union  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  is 
thereby  revealed  as  a  life  in  God.  "  At  that  day  ye  shall 
know  that  I  am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  j'^ou." 
Yes !  as  we  pass  through  the  Epistles,  we  see  that  that 
day  is  come,  and  that  the  consciousness  thus  predicted  has 
been  attained.  It  is  no  flight  of  mysterious  rhetoric,  but 
the  brief  expression  of  the  settled,  habitual,  fundamental 
view  of  the  state  of  those  who  are  here  addressed,  "  Of  him 
are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus." 

This  idea  underlies  all  that  is  said,  gives  the  point  of 
view  from  which  every  subject  is  regarded,  and  supplies 
the  standard  of  character  and  the  rules  of  conduct.  We 
move  in  a  new  world  of  thought,  and  are  raised  to  a  level 
of  doctrine  which  we  had  not  reached  before,  though  the 
Gospels  had  prepared  us  for  it,  and  the  Acts  had  led  us 
towards  it.  In  the  Gospels  we  have  stood  like  men  who 
watch  the  rising  of  some  great  edifice,  and  who  grow 
familiar  with  the  outlines  and  the  details  of  its  exterior 
aspect.  In  the  preaching  of  the  Acts  we  have  seen  the 
doors  thrown  open,  and  joined  the  men  who  flock  into  it  as 
their  refuge  and  their  home.  In  the  Epistles  we  are 
actually  within  it,  sheltered  by  its  roof,  encompassed  by 
its  walls ;  we  pass,  as  it  were,  from  chamber  to  chamber, 
beholding  the  extent  of  its  internal  arrangements  and  the 
abundance  of  all  things  provided  for  our  use.  We  are  here 
"  in  Christ  Jesus."     That  is  the  account  of  the  difference 


LeCT.  VII.  THE    EPISTLES.  183 

which  we  feel,  and  which  lies  in  the  opening  out  of  the 
whole  effect  of  the  Gospel,  rather  than  in  additions  made  to 
its  particular  doctrines.  The  presence  which  was  lately 
before  our  eyes,  and  drew  us  towards  itself,  now  absorbs 
and  wraps  us  round,  and  has  become  the  ground  on  which 
we  stand,  the  air  which  we  breathe,  the  element  in  which 
we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being. 

The  Churches  are  "in  Christ;"  the  persons  are  "in 
Christ."  They  are  "found  in  Christ"  and  "  preserved  in 
Christ."  They  are  "saved"  and  "sanctified  in  Christ;" 
are  "  rooted,  built  up,"  and  "  made  perfect  in  Christ." 
Their  ways  are  "  ways  that  be  in  Christ ;  "  their  conversa- 
tion is  "  a  good  conversation"  in  Christ ;  their  faith,  hope, 
love,  jo}^  their  whole  life  is  "in  Christ."  They  think,  they 
speak,  they  walk  "  in  Christ."  They  labor  and  suffer,  they 
sorrow  and  rejoice,  they  conquer  and  triumph  "  in  the 
Lord."  They  receive  each  other  and  love  each  other  "in 
the  Lord."  The  fundamental  relations,  the  primal  duties 
of  life,  have  been  drawn  within  the  same  circle.  "The 
man  is  not  without  the  woman,  nor  the  woman  without  the 
man  in  the  Lord."  ^  Wives  submit  themselves  to  their 
husbands  "  in  the  Lord  ;  "  children  obey  their  parents  "  in 
the  Lord."  The  broadest  distinctions  vanish  in  the  com- 
mon bond  of  this  all-embracing  relation.  "  As  many  as 
have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ ;  there 
is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free, 
there  is  neither  male  nor  female  ;  they  are  all  one  in  Christ 
Jesus."  ^  The  influence  of  it  extends  over  the  whole  field 
of  action,  and  men  "  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
giving  thanks  to  God  and  the  Father  by  him."     The  truth 

ilCor.  xi.  11.  SGai.iii.  28. 


184  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.         LeCT.  VII. 

which  they  hold  is  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  ;"  the  will 
by  which  they  guide  themselves  is  "  the  will  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus  concerning  them."  Finally,  this  character  of 
existence  is  not  changed  by  that  which  changes  all  besides. 
Those  who  have  entered  on  it  depart,  but  they  "  die  in  the 
Lord,"  they  "  sleep  in  Jesus,"  they  are  "  the  dead  in 
Christ;"  and  "when  he  shall  appear,"  the}'^  will  appear; 
and  when  he  comes,  "  God  shall  bring  them  with  him," 
and  they  shall  "  reign  in  life  by  one  —  Jesus  Christ." 

Pardon,  my  brethren,  the  necessarily  slight  and  rapid 
manner  in  which  you  have  now  been  reminded  of  this  per- 
vading characteristic  of  the  Apostolic  writings.  Yet, 
swiftly  as  I  am  compelled  to  proceed,  I  must  delay  a  mo- 
ment ;  for  there  is  a  question  which  one  who  rehearses  such 
words  ought  not  to  leave  unspoken.  What  correspondence 
is  there  between  our  own  habit  of  thought  and  the  Christian 
consciousness  which  speaks  in  these  pages?  I  mean,  not 
in  regard  to  particular  doctrines  or  precepts,  but  in  regard 
to  that  one  fact  which  embraces  them  all  —  that  which  the 
text  expresses,  "  Of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus."  That  is 
not  the  statement  of  a  doctrine,  but  the  summary  of  a  life. 
Surely  I  must  ask  —  Is  it  a  life  which  I  am  living  now?  I 
glance  over  these  pages,  and  see  the  holy  and  beloved  name 
shining  in  everj^  part  of  them,  and  mingling  its  presence 
with  every  thought  and  feeling,  every  purpose  and  hope. 
I  see  an  ever-present  consciousness  of  being  in  Christ,  and 
a  habit  of  viewing  all  things  in  him.  Must  I  not  look  down 
into  my  heart,  and  ask  whether  my  own  inward  iife  bears 
this  character?  Let  me  accept  nothing  in  exchange  for 
this.  Men  bid  me  live  in  dutj^  and  truth,  in  purity  and 
love  They  do  well.  But  the  Gospel  does  better  ;  calling 
me  to  live  in  Christ,  and  to  find  in  him  the  enjo3^ment  of 


LeCT.  VII.  THE   EPISTLES.  185 

all  that  I  would  possess  and  the  realization  of  all  that  I 
would  become.  In  suggesting  these  personal  inquiries,  I 
have  scarcely  taken  a  step  out  of  my  wa}^,  for  the  very 
point  before  us  is  this,  that  the  progress  of  doctrine  in  the 
Epistles  is  constituted,  not  in  the  first  place  by  the  com- 
munication of  new  information,  but  b}^  the  recognition  of  a 
spiritual  state  which  has  been  attained,  and  by  the  educa- 
tion of  the  spiritual  life  pertaining  to  it. 

II.  It  now  remains  for  me  to  point  out  that  this  fanda- 
mental  character  does  of  itself  constitute  a  visible  ad^'1lnce 
in  the  several  parts  of  doctrine,  both  changing  their  aspect, 
and  enlarging  their  bounds  ;  and  for  this  purpose  it  is  neces- 
sary to  select  some  particular  subjects  in  which  this  change 
may  be  studied. 

1.  We  turn  first  to  the  primary  doctrine  of  salvation  by 
Jesus  Christ.  In  the  Gospels  this  doctrine  appears  in  its 
most  general  form.  To  a  great  degree  it  is  typically  repre- 
sented, through  the  bodily  healing  or  saving  which  points 
to  the  like  work  in  the  world  of  spirit.  On  some  occasions 
that  faith,  by  which  men  are  "  made  whole"  or  "  saved" 
(as  the  word  is  variously  rendered)  in  the  lower  sense,  is 
declared  to  be  the  means  of  the  higher  blessing,  and  to 
have  secured  for  the  applicant  "  forgiveness  of  sins."  To 
these  intimations,  definite  invitations  and  assertions  are 
added.  He  who  speaks  is  "  come  to  save  the  world  ; "  "to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost ; "  men  are  called  to 
"  come  to  him  that  they  may  have  life ; "  "he  that  be- 
lieveth  on  him  is  not  condemned;"  "he  shall  never  per- 
ish, but  have  everlasting  life : "  and  from  time  to  time 
some  words  are  spoken  which  suggest  the  method  in 
which  the  salvation  is  wrought — words  which  tell  of  "  the 
Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world  ; "  of 

16* 


186         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  VII. 

being  "  lifted  up  like  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,"  that 
those  who  look  may  live  ;  of  "  life  given  as  a  ransom  for 
man}^ ; "  and  of  "  the  blood  of  a  new  covenant  shed  for 
the  remission  of  sins."  But,  in  reaching  the  Epistles,  who 
is  not  struck  with  the  definiteness  and  development  vrhich 
the  whole  doctrine,  especially  this  last  part  of  it,  has  ob- 
tained. Here  men  have  already  received  the  great  truth 
in  its  first  aspect,  and  have  believed  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
for  the  remission  of  sins.  Their  minds,  however,  must 
work ;  and  they  search  into  the  real  depth  and  extent  of 
the  general  assurances  in  which  their  souls  at  first  found 
rest  and  joy.  The  word  of  God  guides  them  through  its 
commissioned  interpreters.  Thus  the  grounds  of  this  sal- 
vation in  the  work  of  Christ,  and  the  means  of  it  in  their 
own  faith,  are  brought  clearly  and  vividly  into  view,  and 
the  attention  is  fixed  upon  the  loay  in  which  men,  being  sin- 
ful, are  made  the  righteousness  of  God.  In  every  variety 
of  expression  the  reality  of  the  atoning  work  of  Christ  is 
made  sure  ;  in  every  connection  of  thought  it  is  made  pres- 
ent. God  "  has  set  him  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  for  sins 
through  faith  in  his  blood ; "  ^  "  We  are  reconciled  unto 
God  by  the  death  of  his  Son  ;  "  ^  "  We  are  justified  in  his 
blood  ;"^  "We  have  redemption  through  his  blood,  even 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  ; "  *  we,  "  who  were  far  ofi",  are  made 
nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ ;  "  ^  "He  hath  made  him  to  be 
sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him  ;  "  ^  "  Christ  hath  redeemed  us 
from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us  ; "  ^  "  By 

»  Rom.  Hi.  25.  »  Ibid.  v.  10.  s  Ibid.  v.  9. 

4  Eph.  i.  7.  ^  Ibid.  il.  13.  «  2  Cor.  v.  21. 

'  Gal.  iii.  13. 


LeCT.  YII.  THE    EPISTLES.  187 

his  own  blood  he  entered  in  once  to  the  holy  place,  having 
obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us  ; "  ^  "  He  was  once  of- 
fered to  bear  the  sins  of  many ; "  ^  ''He  put  away  sin  by 
the  sacrifice  of  himself;"^  "He  bore  our  sins  in  his  own 
body  on  the  tree  ;"^  "Ye  are  redeemed  by  the  precious 
blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  Lamb  without  blemish  and  without 
spot;"^  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin  ; "  ^  "  He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  not 
for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world." ' 

Such  is  the  constant  voice  of  the  apostolic  teaching,  and 
such  also  is  the  constant  voice  of  that  Christian  conscious- 
ness which  the  apostolic  teaching  forms  and  certifies.  Those 
"who  are  in  Cln-ist  are  already  inmates  of  that  "  holy  tem- 
ple "  which  we  see  reared  in  the  Gospels  and  opened  in  the 
Acts  ;  and  for  them  the  altar  of  the  cross  is  the  one  central 
object,  visible  from  the  remotest  precincts,  and  sanctif\'ing 
all  around  it,  while  the  one  sacrifice  thereon  completed  is  the 
ever-present  condition  of  all  which  is  celebrated  or  enjo3'ed 
within.  No  mist  invests  the  object  to  which  all  eyes  are 
turned,  such  as  may  suggest  or  excuse  the  doubt  whether 
that  object  be  truly  an  altar,  and  the  act  accomplished  on  it 
a  sacrifice  indeed.  Not  here  do  we  see  believers  "  clinging 
(as  it  has  been  expressed)  to  the  ground  of  fact "  under  the 
feeling  that  "  mj^ster^^  is  the  nearest  approach  that  we  can 
make  to  the  truth  ;  that  only  by  indefiniteness  can  we  avoid. 
putting  words  in  the  place  of  things  ;  that  we  know  nothing 
of  the  objective  act  on  God's  part  by  which  he  reconciled 
the  world  to  himself,  the  very  description  of  it  as  an  act 

»  Heb.  ix.  12.  «  Ibid.  ix.  28.  ^  Ibid.  ix.  26. 

4  1  Peter  ii.  24.  «  Ibid.  i.  19.  ^  1  John  i.  7. 

'  1  John  ii.  2. 


188  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.         LeCT.  VII. 

being  only  a  figure  of  speech ;  and  that  we  seem  to  know 
that  we  never  can  know  anything."  ^  Instead  of  this  we 
find  a  firm  unsparing  use  of  various  but  kindred  forms  of 
speech,  each  supplementing  and  confirming  the  other,  and 
having  in  the  minds  of  those  who  use  them  a  recognized 
and  settled  force,  derived  from  ordinances  which  they  have 
always  held  to  be  divine,  and  which  they  now  understand 
to  have  been  pre-ordained  for  the  very  purpose  of  preparing 
the  ideas  and  the  language  in  which  they  are  here  express- 
ing the  things  of  Christ. 

Mj'steries  of  course  remain ;  and  the  truths  delivered, 
however  distinct  and  clear  in  their  central  parts,  have  their 
circumference  in  regions  which  the  eye  cannot  reach.  I 
only  observe  that  these  central  parts  of  the  truth  of  our  sal- 
vation become  more  distinct  and  clear  as  we  advance  beyond 
the  threshold  of  the  Gospel ;  and  that  in  the  Epistles,  as 
standing  amongst  those  who  are  in  Christ,  we  receive  a 
fuller  interpretation  of  the  things  which  he  spake  with  his 
lips  concerning  the  salvation  which  we  were  to  find  in  him. 

2.  Proceed  now  to  another  doctrine  respecting  the  Chris- 
tian state  —  namely,  that  those  who  are  saved  are  also  sous. 

One  chief  feature  of  the  teaching  in  the  Gospels  is  found 
in  the  word  "  Father."  Jesus  appears  amongst  men  in  the 
character  of  the  Son.  His  first  spoken  word  utters  the  con- 
sciousness of  that  relation,  "Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be 
among  the  things  of  my  Father  ?  "  ^  His  first  introduction 
to  men  ratifies  it :  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am 
well  pleased  ; "  ^  and  so  he  goes  forth  into  the  world  as  the 
Son  of  the  Father.     In  right  of  this  relation  he  straightway 

'  Jowett  on  the  Epistles,  vol.  ii.  p.  482. 
«  Luke  11.  49.  3  Matt.  iii.  27. 


LeCT.  VII.  THE    EPISTLES.  189 

associates  in  it  those  who  receive  him :  and  when,  in  his 
first  instructions,  he  lifts  up  his  ej'es  on  his  disciples  to 
teach  them  the  principles  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  he  bases 
everything  upon  this  relation  between  them  and  their  God. 
"Pray  to  thy  Father ;"  ^  "Thy  Father  will  reward  ;"2 
"Your  Father  knoweth  what  things  ye  have  need  of;"^ 
"  That  ye  may  glorify  your  Father  ;  "  *  "  That  3'e  may  be 
the  children  of  j^our  Father  which  is  in  heaven  ;  "  ^  "  Be  3^e 
perfect,  as  j^our  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  ®  So 
the  whole  course  of  his  teaching  tends  to  that  intertwining 
of  his  own  relation  to  God  with  theirs,  which  is  finally  ex- 
pressed on  the  eve  of  his  departure  :  "  My  Father  and  your 
Father,  m}^  God  and  your  God." ''  And  this  language  is 
not  a  mere  general  declaration  of  the  universal  fatherhood 
of  God  ;  for  it  is  alwa3's  addressed  to  his  disciples  as  sucJi, 
to  the  little  flock  whom  the  world  will  persecute,  and  to 
whom  "  it  is  their  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  the  king- 
dom : "  ^  and  it  is  further  declared  that  the  consciousness 
of  it  is  only  awakened  in  those  who  hear  Jiis  word,  for  "  no 
man  knoweth  the  Father  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomso- 
ever the  Son  will  reveal  him  ;  "  ^  and  the  right  to  enjoy  and 
feel  this  relation  is  represented  by  St.  John  as  a  gift  to 
those  who  receive  Jiim,  and  believe  in  7iim:  "  To  as  many 
as  received  him,  to  them  gaA^e  he  power  to  become  the  sons 
of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name  :  which  were 
born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the 
will  of  man,  but  of  God."  ^^ 

1  Matt.  vi.  6.  2  Ibid.  4.  3  ibjd^  3. 

4  Matt.  v.  16.  5  Ibid.  45.  ^  i^j^.  48. 

1  Johu  XX.  17.  8  Luke  xii.  32.  »  Matt.  xi.  27. 
10  John  i.  12. 


190         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  VII. 

What  advance  is  made  in  the  Epistles  upon  the  doctrine 
thus  announced  ?  It  appears  there  in  a  fuller  form^  and 
with  plainer  statements  of  its  ground  in  the  work  of 
Christ,  who  is  the  Son  sent  forth,  "  made  under  the  law  to 
redeem  ^  those  who  were  under  the  law,  in  order  that  ^  we 
might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons  ;  "  ^  and  with  stronger 
assertions  of  the  means,  on  our  part,  through  which  the 
sonship  is  enjoyed.  "  Whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ  is  born  of  God ;  "*  "Ye  are  all  the  children  of 
God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus."  ^  But  the  substantive  addi- 
tion made  to  the  doctrine  lies  in  the  region  of  consciousness, 
and  in  the  experience  of  the  inward  life.  Believers  are  in 
Christ,  and  so  are  sons  of  God,  but,  having  become  so,  they 
find  that  Christ  also  is  in  them,  giving  them  the  mind 
of  sons  and  the  sense  of  their  sonship.  "Because  ye  are 
sons,  God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your 
hearts,  cr3dng,  Abba,  Father.'*®  "The  Spirit  itself  wit- 
nessetli  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God  : 
and  if  children,  then  heirs ;  heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs 
with  Christ."  ^  This  revelation  is  not  only  seen  in  the  par- 
ticular passages  which  assert  it,  but  its  presence  is  felt  in 
all  parts  of  the  Apostolic  writings,  and  as  we  read  we  be- 
come more  and  more  sensible  that  Christ  in  the  Spirit  has 
perfected  his  teaching  in  the  flesh,  and  that  those  who  are 
in  him  have  now  learned  all  that  was  meant  by  his  word 
"  Your  Father." 

3.  Turning  now  to  the  department  of  duties,  let  us  take 
the  first  of  them  —  the  personal  approach  to  God  in  worship, 
prayer,  and  praise. 

^  Buy  out,  e^avopaoTj.  ^  iva.  ^  Gal,  iv.  4. 

4  1  John  V.  1.  5  Gal.  iii.  26.        ^  Ibid.  iv.  5. 

'  Horn.  viii.  16,  17. 


LeCT.  VII.  THE    EPISTLES.  '     191 

Speaking  often  on  this  subject,  our  Lord  instructs  us  to 
come  to  God  as  a  Father,  and  as  one  who  seeth  in  secret ;  ^ 
to  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth ;  ^  to  praj^  always,  and  not 
to  faint ;  ^  to  pra}^  as  sinners  who  need  mercy  ;  *  as  chiklren 
who  are  sure  to  be  heard  ;  ^  and  whatsoever  things  we  ask  to 
believe  that  we  receive  them.^  In  his  last  discourse  words 
are  dropped,  which  seem  to  place  the  whole  subject  on  a 
fresh  basis  :  "  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me;" 
''  If  3'e  shall  ask  anything  in  my  name^  /will  do  it.  Hith- 
erto ye  have  asked  nothing  in  mj^  name :  ask,  and  ye  shall 
receive,  that  your  joy  may  be  full."  ^ 

In  the  Epistles  these  (at  the  time)  anticipatory  words 
have  found  their  explanation ;  and  thereby  all  the  previous 
instruction  is  fully  realized.  Men  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  and 
therefore  they  come  to  God  by  him.  Tlie  whole  character 
of  worship  and  prayer  is  now  derived  from  the  conscious- 
ness that  "  through  him  we  have  access  by  one  Spirit  unto 
the  Father."  ^  God  is  approached  as  a  Father  indeed,  be- 
cause he  is  the  Father  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  whom 
the  worshipper  is  found  :  and  therefore  the  two  names  are 
united  in  every  voice  and  almost  every  mention  of  prayer. 
Through  him  also  we  have  the  access,^  or,  as  it  is  soon  af- 
terwards expressed,  "  access  with  confidence  by  the  faith 
of  him."  ^^  The  right  of  entrance  is  secured,  and  the  means 
by  which  it  was  secured  are  present  to  the  mind.  We  have 
"  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus."  ^ 
Sacrifice  has  been  ofl'ered,  the  barriers  are  gone,  a  new  and 
living  way  is  opened.     And  yet,  further,  there  is  (as  the 

^  Matt.  vi.  8.  2  joiin  jy^  24.  »  x,uke  xviii.  1. 

4  Luke  xviii.  13.        ^  i\y^^^  ^i.  11-13.      ^  Mark  xi.  24. 
'  John  xiv.  6,  14,  and  xvi.  23,  24.  »  Eph.  11.  18. 

"  Heb,  x.  19. 


192  THE    TROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.         LeCT.  VII. 

word  implies)  a  present  introduction  by  the  living  interven- 
tion of  an  eternal  Priest,  ministering  in  the  true  sanctuary, 
with  active  mediation  and  perpetual  intercessions  for  all 
who  come  to  God  by  him.  Furthermore,  this  access,  which 
is  through  the  Son,  is  also  "  by  one  Spirit."  To  those  who 
are  in  Christ  the  Holy  Ghost  is  given,  as  the  consequence 
of  their  union  with  him,  and  thus  there  is  the  Divine  pres- 
ence in  the  soul  of  the  worshipper ;  and  so,  in  the  highest 
and  most  perfect  sense,  he  worships  the  Father  in  spirit  and 
in  truth,  and  pra3's  in  the  Hol}^  Ghost,  "the  Spirit  itself 
helping  his  infirmities,  when  he  knows  not  what  he  should 
pray  for  as  he  ought,  and  making  intercession  for  him  with 
groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered."  ^  Passing  into  the  midst 
of  isuch  discoveries  as  these,  we  feel  that  the  doctrine  of 
prayer  has  attained  its  perfect  form,  by  combination  with 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  that  the  highest  fulfilment 
of  all  which  had  been  enjoined  upon  those  who  were  with 
Jesus  has  become  possible  for  those  who  now  are  in  him. 

4.  The  ethical  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  shall  be 
my  last  example.  There  also  the  like  kind  of  advance 
appears.  I  need  not  recall  by  any  special  references  the 
characteristic  features  of  our  Lord's  moral  teaching  in  the 
Gospels.  They  are  present  to  all  our  minds.  That  stand- 
ard of  character  and  rule  of  conduct  have  secured  the  rever- 
entail  recognition  of  the  common  conscience  of  mankind, 
and  the  genuine  admiration  of  unbelief  itself.  It  iias  been 
felt,  even  in  unlikely  quarters,  that  in  those  holy  discourses 
and  that  perfect  example,  human  character  appears  in  a 
state  of  purit}^  and  elevation  which  is  nowhere  else  to  be 
seen :  and  especially  that  this  moral  system  shines  most 

1  Eom.  viii.  26. 


LeCT.  VII.  THE    EPISTLES.  193 

brightly  in  those  points  where  other  sj^stems  fail,  namely, 
the  truthfulness  of  inward  cleansing,  the  majesty  of  lowli- 
ness, and  the  glory  of  love.  Can  there  be  advance  on 
such  a  code  as  this,  given  by  the  Lord  himself,  when,  as  a 
man  among  men,  he  showed  and  taught  what  human  per- 
fection is? 

Yet  when  we  pass  to  the  Epistles  we  are  sensible  of  a 
momentous  change.  The  standard  is  the  same  in  its  gen- 
eral elevation  and  in  the  proportions  of  its  several  parts. 
Where  then  is  the  change  ?  I  answer,  in  the  position  of  those 
who  are  to  use  it,  in  the  relations  of  which  they  are  now  con- 
scious, and  therefore  in  the  motives  by  which  they  are  to  be 
influenced,  and  in  the  j>oz(;ers  which  they  are  supposed  to 
possess.  "  Our  duties,"  as  Bishop  Butler  observes,  "  arise 
out  of  our  relations."  ^  Therefore  every  revelation  of  un- 
known relations  must  affect  in  some  way  the  character  of 
our  duties.  This  truth  comes  strikingly  into  view  as  we 
follow  the  unfolding  of  the  spiritual  relations  of  believers 
to  their  Lord. 

Observe  first  the  position  which  the  Lord  Jesus  attributes 
to  those  whom  he  teaches,  and  the  consequent  motives  to 
which  he  appeals,  in  those  instructions  in  righteousness 
which  he  gave  in  the  days  of  his  flesh.  He  urges  the  special 
relations  in  which  those  who  have  joined  him  stand.  They 
are  under  peculiar  obligations,  and  a  peculiar  government. 
They  are  Ms  disciples,^  and  the  children  of  their  Father ;  ^ 
they  must  "do  more  than  others."  *  He  charges  them  as 
being  their  master,  and  counsels  them  as  being  their  friend  ; 
and,  as  time  goes  on,  uses  the  power  of  his  example,  and 

*  Analogy,  Part  II.  chap.  i.  sect.  2. 
«  Luke  xiv.  26,  27,  43.         »  Matt.  v.  45.        -•  Ibid.  47. 
17 


194  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.         LeCT.  VII. 

at  last  appeals  to  the  claims  of  his  love :  "  I  have  given 
you  an  example,  that  ye  should  do  as  I  have  done  to 
you  ; "  ^  "  As  I  have  loved  you,  that  ye  love  one  another  ;"  ^ 
then  finally  opens  that  deeper  relation,  from  which  their 
future  fruitfulness  must  be  derived:  "Abide  in  me,  and  I 
in  you.  As  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself  except  it 
abide  in  the  vine,  no  more  can  je  except  ye  abide  in  me."  ^ 

That  last  sajdng,  which  was  at  the  time  a  parable,  they 
soon  knew  as  a  fact.  When  the  redemption  was  completed, 
and  he  was  gone  from  their  side,  they  found  themselves  in 
a  closer  and  deeper  union  with  him  than  they  had  under- 
stood before.  Henceforth  it  was  in  the  relations  with  him, 
on  which  they  had  entered  in  the  Spirit,  that  they  found 
both  the  motives  of  duty  and  the  power  for  its  fulfilment. 

The  Epistles  first  unfold  the  fulness  of  the  grace  in  Christ, 
and  then  beseech  us  "  by  the  mercies  of  God  "  that  we  "  pre- 
sent our  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God, 
which  is  our  reasonable  service."  *  They  base  their  practi- 
cal instructions  on  the  consciousness  of  being  redeemed 
with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,^  of  being  risen  with 
Christ,®  of  having  the  Spirit  of  Christ  dwelling  in  us.^  All 
goodness,  righteousness,  and  truth  are  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit 
dwelling  in  us.  We  live  in  the  Spirit,  therefore  we  are  to 
walk  in  the  Spirit ;  "  ®  we  have  received  Christ  Jesus  the 
Lord,  therefore  we  are  to  walk  in  him  ;^  we  are  to  flee  for- 
nication, because  it  would  defile  the  members  of  Christ ;  ^® 
we  are  to  put  away  corrupt  communications  because  they 
will  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby  we  are  sealed 

»  John  xiii.  15.  «  Ibid.  xv.  12.  ^  ibi(j.  4. 

4  Rom.  xii.  1.  «  1  Pet.  i.  18.  «  Col.  iii.  1. 

'  Rom.  viii.  9, 13.  »  Gal.  v.  22-25.  »  Col.  ii.  6. 
"  1  Cor.  vi.  19. 


LeCT.  VII.  THE   EPISTLES.  195 

to  the  daj^  of  redemption  ;  ^  we  are  to  forgiTe  one  another, 
because  God  for  Christ's  sake  has  forgiven  us  ;  ^  to  receive 
one  another,  because  Christ  received  us  to  the  glory  of 
God  ;  ^  and  to  give  to  others,  because  we  know  the  grace  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  when  he  was  rich,  for  our  sakes 
became  poor,  that  we  through  his  poverty  might  be  made 
rich ;  *  our  conversation  is  to  be  worthy  of  God,  who  has 
called  us  to  his  kingdom  and  glory  ;  ^  we  are  to  mortify  our 
members  upon  the  earth,  because,  when  Christ,  who  is  our 
life,  shall  appear,  we  also  shall  appear  with  him  in  glor}'.^ 

This  character  of  ethical  teaching  is  nowhere  more  con- 
spicuous than  in  the  calm  depths  of  the  Epistle  of  St.  John, 
where  the  sense  of  fellowship  with  God  is  the  ground  of 
, walking  in  the  light ;  ^  and  "  he  that  saith  he  abideth  in 
Christ  ought  himself  also  so  to  walk,  even  as  he  walked  ;  "  * 
and  every  man  that  hath  the  hope  in  Christ  purifieth  him- 
self, even  as  he  is  pure  ;  ^  and  the  love  which  laid  down  his 
life  for  us  is  the  reason  for  a  willingness  to  lay  down  our 
lives  for  the  brethren  ;  ^"  and  the  whole  spirit  of  love  one  to 
another  is  the  reflection  of  that  love  of  God,  wherewith  he 
first  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins."  ^^ 

We  recognize  then  the  advance  of  ethical  doctrine,  not 
only  or  chiefl}^  in  its  more  various  and  detailed  practical 
development,  but  in  the  fact  that  the  principles,  motives, 
and  conduct  of  life  are  habitually  drawn  from  the  ever- 
present  consciousness  of  the  great  salvation.  It  is  a  habit 
of  thought,  up  to  which,  but  not  into  which,  the  moral 

1  Eph.  iv.  29,  30.  ^  ibi^l.  32.  3  RonQ.  xv.  7. 

4  2  Cor.  viii.  9.  ^  1  Thess.  ii.  12.  «  Col.  iii.  4,  5. 

">  1  John  i.  6.  8  Ibid.  ii.  6.  »  Ibid.  iii.  2,  3. 

»o  1  John  iii.  16.  "  Ibid.  iv.  7-10. 


196         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  VII. 

teaching  of  Jesus  had  led  us ;  a  habit  of  thought,  which 
corresponds  with  those  relations  towards  himself,  into  which 
men  fully  entered  only  when  his  voice  on  earth  had  ceased. 
If  there  is  this  visible  progress  of  doctrine  in  the  depart- 
ment of  Christian  ethics ;  if,  in  respect  of  distinct  exhibi- 
tion of  principles  and  motives,  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles 
surpasses  that  of  their  Lord  ;  it  is  plain  that  this  fact  is  a 
necessity  from  the  nature  of  the  case.  Till  Jesus  was 
glorified,  his  spiritual  relations  w4th  believers  could  not  be 
fully  unfolded  ;  and  till  those  relations  were  apprehended, 
the  motives  arising  out  of  them  could  not  be  called  into 
action,  nor  the  life  resulting  from  them  be  clearly  brought 
to  light. 

I  have  now  adverted  to  some  principal  subjects  on  which 
we  have  received  the  teaching  of  God  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, as  illustrations  of  the  change  which  that  teaching 
exhibits  in  tlie  latter  part  of  the  volume.  If  we  multiplied 
these  examples  to  the  utmost,  our  comparison  of  the  aspect 
which  every  separate  doctrine  bears  in  the  Gospels  with 
that  which  it  presents  in  the  Epistles  would  still  have  the 
same  result.  We  should  still  see  that  the  later  doctrine 
differs  from  the  earlier,  onl}^  as  being  its  completion  and 
fulfilment.^  The  Lord  himself  was  perfected  and  glorified, 
not  in  the  daj's  of  his  flesh,  but  after  they  were  ended.  So 
also  was  his  doctrine  ;  but  as  in  the  later  stage  he  is  still 
the  same  Lord,  so  it  is  still  the  same  doctrine.  Its  mean- 
ing is  defined,  its  extent  is  disclosed,  its  consequences  are 
deduced.  Parable  and  proverb  are  changed  into  great 
plainness  of  speech.  What  seemed  a  figure  is  shown  as  a 
fact.     What  was  intimation  of  something  future  is  become 

1  n-Ajjpwais. 


LeCT.  Vn.  THE   EPISTLES.  197 

assertion  of  something  present.  Motives  are  supplied, 
powers  are  assured,  by  which  that  which  was  enjoined  is 
realized,  and  a  life  which  had  seemed  impossible  is  now 
become  simply  natural.  Revelation  has  onl}^  enlarged 
itself  to  meet  necessities  and  fill  capacities  which  its  former 
words  had  purposely  created.  The  earlier  teaching  con- 
templated the  coming  of  a  day  for  its  disciples,  in  which 
man}'  things  should  be  said  to  them  which  thej^  could  not 
bear  then.  In  the  later  teaching  that  day  is  come.  At 
first  they  are  taught  as  those  who  are  with  Jesus,  after- 
wards as  those  who  are  in  Christ.  The}^  know  now  that 
he  is  in  the  Father,  and  they  in  him,  and  he  in  them. 
When  that  consciousness  is  given,  a  standing-point  is 
reached  from  which  new  worlds  of  thought  may  be  sur- 
veyed. They  are  surveyed  in  the  Epistles,  and  there  the 
chosen  teachers  spread  before  us  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.  They  saj^  to  us,  "  Of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  " 
and  they  show  us  what  that  state  implies,  of  capacities, 
possessions,  responsibilities,  duties,  and  destinies  ;  of  rela- 
tions to  God  and  man,  of  connection  with  things  in  earth 
and  things  in  heaven.  They  show  that  to  produce  and 
to  perfect  this  state  are  the  ends  of  the  preaching  of  the 
word,  of  the  institution  of  the  sacraments,  of  the  ordinance 
of  the  ministr}',  of  the  life  and  order  of  the  Church ;  yea, 
of  the  divine  government  of  the  world,  and  of  all  that  bears 
on  human  histor3\  "  All  things  are  for  your  sakes  ;  "  ^ 
"  All  are  j'ours,  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or 
the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to 
come  ;  all  are  yours ;  and  ye  are  Christ's  ;  and  Christ  is 
God's."  2 


12  Cor.  iv.  15.  2 1  Cor.  iii.  21-23. 

17* 


198         THE  PROGRESS  OF  DOCTRINE.    LeCT.  VII. 

And  so  the  great  course  of  divine  teaching  has  reached 
its  highest  stage.  After  slowly  moving  on,  through  the 
simple  thoughts  of  patriarchal  piety,  through  the  system 
and  covenant  of  the  Law,  and  through  the  higher  spirituality 
of  the  Prophets,  it  rose  suddenly  to  a  lofty  elevation  when 
God  spake  to  us  in  his  Son  ;  and  even  higher  yet  when 
the  Son  ascended  back  into  glory,  and  sent  down  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  take  up  his  unfinished  word,  and  open  the  mys- 
teries which  had  been^  hid  from  ages  and  generations. 
Each  stage  of  progress  based  itself  on  the  facts  and  in- 
structions of  that  which  went  before.  The  Law  was  given 
to  the  children  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  ;  the  Prophets 
spake  to  those  m  ho  were  under  the  Law ;  Jesus  Christ 
came  to  those  who  had  been  taught  by  the  Prophets  ;  the 
Holy  Ghost  instructed  those  who  had  received  Christ. 

Beyond,  and  outside  this  course  of  teaching,  lay,  and 
still  lies,  the  great  world  of  human  beings.  Lord,  and 
what  shall  these  men  do  ?  What  is  that  to  thee  ?  Follow 
thou  me. 

Oh  !  let  us  follow.  It  is  not  the  object  of  revelation  to 
answer  those  inquiries,  natural  as  the}^  are.  It  is  its  object 
to  lead  tliose  to  whom  it  comes  into  that  fulness  of  knowl- 
edge, and  up  to  those  heights  of  blessing,  towards  which, 
in  its  own  historical  progress,  it  so  steadily  advanced,  and 
which  its  final  stage  attained. 

Let  not  searchings  of  heart  as  to  what  others  shall  do, 
or  the  sense  of  the  thousand  questions  which  must  wait  for 
their  solution  a  few  years  longer,  divert  us  from  now  press- 
ing into  that  inner  circle  of  experience  to  which  the  Word 
of  God  conducts  us. 

There  we  shall  find  it  true  that  "  he  that  belie veth  on 


LeCT.  VII.  THE   EPISTLES.  199 

the  Son  of  God  hath  the  witness  in  himself.''  ^  There  vre 
shall  repeat  within  ourselves  the  words  vvith  which  the  last 
Apostle  closes  his  Epistle  :  "  We  know  that  the  Son  of  God 
is  come,  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding,  that  ive  may 
know  him  that  is  true,  and  we  are  in  him  that  is  true,  even 
in  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  true  God,  and  eternal 
life."^  There  we  shall  feel  that  we  have  reached  results 
for  our  own  inward  life  answerable  to  all  the  preparations 
which  went  before  —  answerable  even  to  the  great  facts  in 
which  those  preparations  culminated,  when  the  Only- 
begotten  of  the  Father  came  down  to  earth  to  take  us  into 
himself,  and  returned  into  glory  to  unite  us  to  God. 

1  1  John.  V.  6.  2  Ibid.  20. 


LECTUKE    yill. 

THE  APOCALYPSE. 

I  JOHN  SAW  THE  HOLY  CITY,  NEW  JERUSALEM,  COMING  DOWN  FROM  GOD 
OUT  OF  HEAVEN,  PREPARED  AS  A  BRIDE  ADORNED  FOR  HER  HUSBAND.— 
Rev.  xxi.  2. 

These  words  open  the  last  vision  of  prophecy  and  the 
last  teaching  of  Scripture. 

It  had  been  the  promise  of  the  Lord  to  his  disciples  that 
the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  he  would  send  to  them  from  the 
Father,  should  not  only  lead  them  into  all  the  truth,  but 
should  also  show  them  things  to  come :  and  we  find  the 
promise  fulfilled  in  both  its  parts.  The  predictions  of  the 
great  transitional  discourse,  concerning  the  coming  dis- 
pensation of  the  Spirit,  have  their  permanent  justification 
in  the  canonical  books  which  follow ;  and  as  the  Epistles 
respond  to  the  assurance,  '*  He  shall  lead  you  into  all  the 
truth,"  so  does  the  word,  "He  shall  show  j^ou  things  to 
come,"  find  its  distinct  fulfilment  in  the  Apocalypse. 
That  book  continues  the  line  of  predictive  history  running 
through  the  New  Testament,  and  is  the  consummation  of 
the  sure  word  of  prophecy  which  pervades  the  Bible  as  a 
whole. 

I  have  already  had  occasion  to  observe  that  the  words 
spoken  by  our  Lord  in  the  flesh  give  the  substance  of  all 
the  later  doctrine,  and  prove  to  be,  as  it  were,  the  heads 
and  summaries  of  chapters  which  were  to  be  written  after- 
wards.    As  all  the  great  doctrinal  features  of  the  Epistles 

200 


LeCT.  VIII.  THE   APOCALYPSE.  201 

are  found  in  germ  in  separate  sayings  of  the  Lord,  so  also 
the  main  outlines  of  the  Apocalypse  are  given  us  in  par- 
ables and  saj'ings,  which  trace  the  future  history  of  his 
kingdom.  And  more  particular!}^  it  is  to  be  noticed,  that 
this  book  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  last  discourse  in 
St.  Matthew,  which  the  Epistles  bear  to  the  last  discourse 
in  St.  John.  In  the  upper  room  where  the  last  Passover 
and  the  fii'st  Eucharist  had  been  celebrated,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  little  company  which  then  represented  the 
Christian  Church,  the  Lord  spoke  the  words  which  opened 
the  mystery  of  the  spiritual  life,  a  mystery  afterwards  to 
be  fully  unfolded  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  day  when  they 
would  know  that  he  was  in  the  Father,  and  they  in  him  and 
he  in  them.  Sitting  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  with  Jerusalem 
spread  before  him,  and  questioned  as  to  the  sign  of  his 
coming  and  of  the  winding  up  of  the  age,  he  gave  the  out- 
lines of  a  prophetic  history,  which  contained  the  substance, 
bore  the  character,  and  must  rule  the  interpretation,  of  the 
later  and  larger  revelation. 

Again,  as  in  the  case  of  the  doctrinal  teaching,  so  in  the 
case  of  the  prophetical,  its  unity  is  assured  to  us  by  the 
testimonies  that  the  teacher  is  the  same  in  the  later  as  in 
the  earlier  stage.  Not  only  do  we  find  in  the  spoken  words 
of  the  Lord  the  condensed  substance  of  that  which  follows  ; 
not  onl}^  do  we  hear  from  him,  that  this  part  of  his  teach- 
ing is  to  be  continued  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  he  will 
send  to  show  us  things  to  come ;  but  a  peculiar  care  is 
taken  in  this  last  communication  from  heaven,  to  bring 
fully  before  the  mind  of  the  Church  the  reality  of  the* 
presence  of  the  Lord  himself  in  his  revealing  word.  "  The 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  which  God  gave  unto  Idm^  to  show 
unto  his  servants  the  things  which  must  come  to  pass,"  is  a 


202  THE   PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRIXE.        LeCT.  VIII. 

repetition,  and  a  particular  application,  of  that  assurance 
on  which  all  the  Gospel  rests,  "  I  have  given  unto  them  the 
words  which  thou  gavest  me."  Even  the  visible  discovery 
of  this  fact  is  not  withheld.  If  Paul,  as  the  great  expositor 
of  the  present  spiritual  life,  had  seen  Jesus  Christ  himself, 
and  received  immediately  from  the  Lord  that  which  he  had 
delivered  unto  men  ;  so  John,  as  the  prophet  of  the  things 
to  come,  saw  the  well-remembered  form  again,  surrounded 
with  the  symbols  of  majesty  and  judgment,  and  looked 
upon  his  countenance,  now  like  the  sun  shining  in  his 
strength,  and  heard  his  voice  as  the  sound  of  many 
waters. 

Thus  the  continuity  of  the  line  of  prophecy  within  the 
canonical  books  is  made  as  clear  as  that  of  the  line  of  doc- 
trine ;  both  commencing  in  the  words  of  Jesus  in  the  flesh, 
both  perfected  by  the  words  of  Jesus  in  the  Spirit. 

But  it  may  be  asked.  If  the  line  of  prophec}^  is  to  be 
distinguished  from  the  line  of  doctrine,  what  place  can  the 
former  subject  claim  in  Lectures  which  are  appropriated  to 
the  latter? 

Taking  prophecy  as  predicted  fact  (however  partially 
discovered  or  S3'mbolically  disguised),  it  will  stand  in  the 
same  relation  to  doctrine  as  is  held  by  history  or  recorded 
fact.  In  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  that  relation  is  the 
ver}'  closest ;  for  it  is  a  doctrine  which  rests  upon  events. 
Its  foundation  is  in  facts  which  have  come  to  pass,  and 
will  yet  come  to  pass.  Jesus  died — he  ascended  —  he 
will  come  again  —  he  will  reign  in  glorj^  These  are  ex- 
ternal facts.  The}^  enter  the  region  of  doctrine  (as  we 
commonly  use  the  term)  through  their  consequences  to  our- 
selves, through  their  effect  on  our  own  inward  conscious- 
ness, through  the  uses  and  applications  which  may  be  made 


Lect.  VIIT.  the  apocalypse.  203 

of  them.  If  Jesus  died  —  to  bear  our  sins  ;  if  he  ascended 
— to  be  manifested  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us  ;  if  he 
will  come  again  —  to  judge  our  state;  if  he  will  reign  in 
glovy  —  to  perfect  our  salvation  ;  then  these  facts,  in  them- 
selves external  to  us,  are  external  no  longer.  They  are 
among  the  grounds  of  a  whole  system  of  thought  and  habit 
of  feeling,  and,  when  taught  as  such,  they  grow  into  a 
scheme  of  doctrine.  But  as  in  history  (I  mean  that  which 
is  commonly  described  as  inspired  history)  all  the  events 
have  not  the  same  connection  with  doctrine,  but  some  only 
an  indirect  and  remote  one,  so  also  is  it  in  prophecy  ;  and 
particular  facts,  or  a  whole  series  of  events,  may  be  inti- 
mated in  the  way  of  prediction  for  other  reasons,  but  not 
for  any  immediate  bearing  which  they  have  upon  doctrine. 

It  results  from  these  observations  that  the  progress  of 
prophecy,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  so  bound  up  with  the  prog- 
ress of  doctrine,  that  the  enlargement  of  the  one  must  in 
some  degree  involve  the  enlargement  of  the  other.  It  also 
results  that  the  one  is  still  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
other,  and  therefore  that  it  does  not  belong  to  such  an  in- 
quiiy  as  I  now  pursue  to  trace  the  details  of  a  predicted 
course  of  events. 

I  am  free  then  from  all  necessities  of  detailed  apocalyptic 
interpretation ;  having  only  to  render  some  account  of  the 
general  doctrinal  bearing  of  this  revelation  of  things  to 
come,  and  to  point  out  what  additions  of  that  kind  are 
made  in  the  last  book,  to  the  treasures  which  the  preceding 
documents  have  accumulated  for  our  use.  The  separate 
accessions  of  information  it  would  take  long  to  gather,  but 
their  general  character  is  visible  at  once. 

I.  The  former  Scriptures  have  revealed  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  Saviour,  not  only  of  individual  souls,  but  also 


204  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  VIII. 

of  "  the  body,  the  Church."  The  final  result  of  his  appear- 
ing is  shown  not  only  in  the  peace,  the  holiness,  the  partici- 
pation and  inherence  in  him  of  each  separate  person,  but 
in  the  formation  of  a  corporate  existence,  a  society  in 
which  man  is  perfected,  a  kingdom  in  which  God  is  glori- 
fied. The  parables  and  sayings  of  the  Gospels  present  this 
kingdom  of  God  as  having  its  own  life  and  end,  its  own 
history  and  destinj^,  in  which  those  of  its  individual  mem- 
bers are  involved.  Soon  its  visible  shape  appears.  A 
societ}^  is  formed,  and,  if  glorious  things  were  spoken  of 
the  cit}^  of  God  under  the  old  covenant,  still  more  glorious 
things  are  spoken  of  this,  which  is  "  the  house  of  God," 
''the  Church  of  the  living  God,"^  "  the  habitation  of  God 
through  the  Spirit."^  It  is  not  a  mere  aggregate  of 
separate  parts,  but  possesses  an  organic  life,  as  "  the  body 
of  Christ"  "fitly  joined  together  and  compacted  b}^  that 
which  ever}^  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  eff'ectual 
working  in  the  measure  of  every  part,  making  increase  of 
the  body  unto  the  edifying  oi  itself  in  love."^  It  is  endued 
with  a  corporate  personality,  in  which  the  full  results  of 
redemption  will  appear :  for  it  is  the  spouse  of  Christ, 
which  he  loved,  and  for  which  he  gave  himself,  and  which 
he  will  present  unto  himself  a  glorious  Church,  "  not  hav- 
ing spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing."*  In  this  view, 
the  Church  is  not  so  much  for  the  sake  of  the  individual, 
as  the  individual  for  the  sake  of  the  Church.  Its  perfection 
and  glor}^,  its  full  response  to  the  work  of  Christ,  its  reali- 
zation of  the  purposes  of  God,  constitute  the  end  to  which 
the  existence  of  each  member  ministers.     This  line  of 


1 1  Tim.  iii.  15.  ^jgph.  ii.  22. 

8  Ibid.  iv.  16.  *Ibid.  v.  27. 


LeCT.  Vin.  THE    APOCALYPSE.  205 

thought  runs  through  the  Epistles,  and  forms  a  distinct 
advance  upon  that  which  works  out  the  development  of 
personal  salvation.  I  have  now  to  point  out  that  it  is  not 
perfected  in  the  Epistles,  but  demands  such  a  continuance 
and  such  a  close  as  it  receives  in  the  Apocalypse. 

The  sense  of  sharing  in  a  corporate  existence,  and  in  a 
history  and  destinies  larger  than  those  w^hich  belong  to  us 
as  individuals,  tends  to  throw  the  mind  forward  upon  a 
course  of  things  to  come,  through  which  this  various 
history  is  to  run,  and  these  glorious  destinies  are  to  be 
reached.  More  especially  is  this  the  case,  where  there  is  a 
strong  contrast  between  the  ideal  expectations  which  we 
have  formed  and  the  actual  realization  which  at  any  par- 
ticular time  we  behold.  When  present  things  in  a  measure 
disappoint  us,  we  turn  more  eagerly  to  the  brighter  future, 
and  look  bej^ond  the  darkened  foreground  to  the  light  which 
glows  on  the  horizon.  Who  does  not  feel,  in  reading  the 
Epistles,  that  some  such  sense  of  present  disappointment 
grows  upon  him,  and  that  such  dark  shadows  are  gathering 
on  the  scene? 

How  fair  was  the  morning  of  the  Church !  how  swift  its 
progress  !  what  expectations  it  would  have  been  natural  to 
form  of  the  future  history  which  had  begun  so  well !  Doubt- 
less they  were  formed  in  many  a  sanguine  heart :  but  they 
were  clouded  soon.  It  became  evident  that,  when  the  first 
conflicts  were  passed,  others  would  succeed  ;  and  that  the 
long  and  weary  war  with  the  powers  of  darkness  had  onl}^ 
just  begun.  The  wrestlings  "  against  principalities  and 
powers  and  the  spiritual  forces  of  wickedness  in  heavenly 
places  "  ^  were  yet  to  be  more  painfully  felt,  and  believers 

*  Eph.  vi.  12. 


206  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  VIII. 

were  prepared  to  be  "partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings,"  and 
not  to  "  think  it  strange  concerning  the  lier}^  trial  which 
was  to  try  them,  as  though  some  strange  thing  happened 
to  them."  ^ 

But  worse  for  the  Church  than  the  fightings  without  were 
the  fears  within.  Men  who  had  long  professed  the  Gospel 
"  had  need  to  be  taught  again  what  were  the  first  principles 
of  the  oracles  of  God."  ^  They  were  "falling  from  grace," 
and  '•  turning  back  to  weak  and  beggarl}^  elements,  whereto 
they  desired  again  to  be  in  bondage."  ^  "  Some  had  already 
turned  aside  after  Satan,"  *  and,  where  there  was  no  special 
prevalence  of  error,  a  coldness  and  worldliness  of  spirit 
drew  forth  the  sad  reflection,  "All  seek  their  own,  not  the 
things  which  are  Jesus  Christ's."  ^  Contentions  were  rife, 
and  schisms  were  spreading  ;  and  men,  in  the  name  of  Christ 
and  of  truth,  were  "  provoking  one  another,  envying  one 
another."  New  forms  of  error  began  to  arise,  from  the  com- 
bination of  Christian  ideas  with  the  rudiments  of  the  world 
and  the  vagaries  of  oriental  philosophy.  Here  were  men, 
like  Jannes  and  Jambres  who  withstood  Moses,  "resisting 
the  truth,  reprobate  concerning  the  faith."  ®  Here  were 
"  Hymenoeus  and  Philetus,  who  concerning  the  truth  had 
erred,  saying  that  the  resurrection  was  past  already."^ 
Here  was  the  "knowledge  falsely  so  called,"^  teeming  with 
a  thousand  protean  forms  of  falsehood.  While  the  Apostles 
wrote,  the  actual  state  and  the  visible  tendencies  of  things 
showed  too  plainly  what  Church  history  would  be  ;  and,  at 
the  same  time,  i)rophetic  intimations  made  the  prospect 

»  1  Pet.  iv.  12,  13.        '  Heb.  v.  12.        ^  Gal.  iv.  9 ;  v.  4. 
*  1  Tim.  V.  15.  5  Phil.  ii.  21.        ^  2  Tim.  lii.  8. 

'  2  Tim.  ii.  17.  *  1  Tim.  vi.  20.  i^evSwFVMos  yviats. 


Lect.  VIII.  THE    APOCALYPSE.  207 

still  more  dark :  for  "  the  Spirit  spake  expressl}^  that  in 
the  latter  times  men  would  depart  from  the  faith,  giving 
heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doctrines  of  devils,"^ — that 
"  in  the  last  days  grievous  times  should  come,"  marked  by 
a  darkness  of  moral  condition  which  it  might  have  been  ex- 
pected that  Gospel  influences  would  have  dispelled,^  —  that 
*' there  would  be  scoffers  in  the  last  days,  walking  after 
their  own  lusts,  and  saying,  where  is  the  promise  of  his 
coming?  "  ^ — that  the  day  of  the  Lord  would  not  be  "  till 
the  apostacy  had  come  first,  and  the  man  of  sin  had  been 
revealed,  the  son  of  perdition,  the  adversary  who  exalts 
himself  above  all  that  is  called  God  or  an  object  of  wor- 
ship, so  that  he  sits  in  the  Temple  of  God,  showing  himself 
that  he  is  God."  *  "  The  mystery  of  lawlessness  was  already 
working,  and  as  antichrist  should  come,  even  then  were 
there  many  antichrists,"^  men  "  den3ang  the  Father  and 
the  Son,"  "  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them,"^  "turn- 
ing the  grace  of  God  into  lasci\4ousness," ^  and  "bringing 
on  themselves  swift  destruction." 

I  know  not  how  any  man,  in  closing  the  Epistles,  could 
expect  to  find  the  subsequent  history  of  the  Church  essen- 
tially different  from  what  it  is.  In  those  writings  we  seem, 
as  it  were,  not  to  witness  some  passing  storms  which  clear 
the  air,  but  to  feel  the  whole  atmosphere  charged  with  the 
elements  of  future  tempest  and  death.  Every  moment  the 
forces  of  evil  show  themselves  more  plainly.  They  are  en- 
countered, but  not  dissipated.  Or,  to  change  the  figure,  we 
see  battles  fought  by  the  leaders  of  our  band,  but  no  secu- 

1  1  Tim.  iv.  1.         «  2  Tim.  iii.  1-5.  ^  2  Pet.  iii.  3. 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  4-7.    ^  1  John  ii.  18,  22.      «  2  Pet.  ii.  1. 
'  Jude  4. 


208  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.      LECT.  VIII. 

rity  is  promised  by  their  victories.  New  assaults  are  being 
prepared  ;  new  tactics  will  be  tried  ;  new  enemies  pour  on  ; 
the  distant  hills  are  black  with  gathering  multitudes,  and 
the  last  exhortations  of  those  who  fall  at  their  posts  call  on 
their  successors  to  "  endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of 
Jesus  Christ,"^  and  "earnestly  to  contend  for  the  faith 
which  was  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  ^ 

The  fact  which  I  observe  is  not  merely  that  these  indica- 
tions of  the  future  are  in  the  Epistles,  but  that  they  increase 
as  we  approach  the  close,  and  after  the  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel  have  been  fully  wrought  out,  and  the  fulness  of  per- 
sonal salvation  and  the  ideal  character  of  the  Church  have 
been  placed  in  the  clearest  light,  the  shadows  gather  and 
deepen  on  the  external  history.  The  last  words  of  St.  Paul 
in  the  second  Epistle  to  Timothy,  and  those  of  St.  Peter  in 
his  second  Epistle,  with  the  Epistles  of  St.  John  and  St. 
Jude,  breathe  the  language  of  a  time  in  which  the  tenden- 
cies of  that  histor}^  had  distinctly  shown  themselves  ;  and 
in  this  respect  these  writings  form  a  prelude  and  a  passage 
to  the  Apocalypse. 

Thus  we  arrive  at  this  book  with  wants  which  it  is  meant 
to  supply  ;  we  come  to  it  as  men  who  not  only  personally 
are  in  Christ,  and  who  know  what  as  individuals  they  have 
in  him ;  but  who  also,  as  members  of  his  body,  share  in  a 
corporate  life,  in  the  perfection  of  which  they  are  to  be 
made  perfect,  and  in  the  glory  of  which  their  Lord  is  to  be 
glorified.  For  this  perfection  and  glory  we  wait  in  vain, 
among  the  confusions  of  the  world  and  the  ever-active,  ever- 
changing  forms  of  evil.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  wild 
scene  ?  what  is  to  be  its  issue  ?  and  what  prospect  is  there 

»  2  Tim.  ii.  3.  »  Jude  3. 


LeCT.  VIII.  THE   APOCALYPSE.  209 

of  the  realization  of  that  which  we  desire  ?  To  such  a  state 
of  EQind  as  this,  and  to  the  wants  which  it  involves,  this  last 
part  of  the  teaching  of  God  is  addressed,  in  accordance  with 
that  system  of  progressive  doctrine  which  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  illustrate,  wherein  each  stage  of  advance  ensues  in 
the  way  of  natural  sequence  from  the  effect  of  that  which 
preceded  it. 

Brethren,  I  would  that  this  state  of  mind,  these  desires 
and  wants,  which  the  last  revealing  word  supposes  in  those 
to  whom  it  comes,  did  exist  more  extensively  and  distinctly 
among  us.  I  think  we  must  all  feel  that  the  piety  of  our 
day  encloses  itself  too  much  within  the  limits  of  indi- 
vidual life. 

That  /  should  be  pardoned,  saved,  and  sanctified  —  that 
I  should  serve  before  God,  and  be  accepted  in  my  service 
—  that  /  should  die  in  peace  and  rest  in  Christ — that  / 
should  have  confidence  and  not  be  ashamed  before  him  at 
his  coming  —  these  are  worthy  desires  for  an  immortal  be- 
ing, and  for  these  the  Gospel  provides.  But  it  provides  for 
more  than  these  ;  making  me  the  member  of  a  kingdom  of 
Christ,  and  the  citizen  of  a  aHy  of  God.  There  ought  surely 
to  be  a  consciousness  within  me  corresponding  to  that  posi- 
tion ;  there  ought  to  be  affections  which  will  associate  me 
in  spirit  with  that  larger  history,  in  which  my  own  is  in- 
cluded ;  and  which  will  make  me  long  that  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  should  come,  and  the  city  of  God  be  manifested. 
The  blessedness  ascribed  to  him  that  reads,  and  those  who 
hear,  the  words  of  this  prophecy,  can  belong  only  to  those 
who  read  it  and  hear  it  thus. 

II.  Such  being  the  state  of  mind  which  the  book  presup- 
poses, and  such  the  wants  to  which  it  is  addressed,  I  have 
now  to  point  out  some  leading  characteristics  of  its  doctrine, 

18* 


210  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  VITI. 

in  order  to  show  what  are  the  satisfactions  which  it  pro- 
vides. These  characteristics,  though  distinguished  from 
each  other,  will  yet  all  be  found  to  combine  in  one.  The 
doctrine  of  the  book  is  a  doctrine  of  consummation. 

1.  It  is  a  doctrine  of  the  cause  of  the  consummation.  It 
educes  the  result  from  one  source  —  the  atoning  death  of 
Jesus.  Is  this  an  advance  in  doctrine?  Has  not  the  na- 
ture and  efficacy  of  the  great  sacrifice  been  already  suffi- 
ciently disclosed  ?  Yes,  certainly,  in  its  bearing  on  personal 
salvation ;  but  this  book  exhibits  the  connection  between 
the  personal  and  the  general  salvation,  in  the  identity  of 
their  common  cause.  The  personal  salvation  for  each  sev- 
eral soul  has  been  expounded  in  the  Epistles  as  found  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  more  particularly  in  our  redemption  to 
God  by  his  blood.  In  these  writings  the  sacrifice  and  pro- 
pitiation of  his  death  are  CA'er  before  our  eyes,  as  the  cause 
of  our  restoration  and  the  source  of  all  our  other  blessings. 
When,  in  this  book,  we  pass  on  from  the  personal  to  the 
general  life,  and  are  to  see  the  victory  secured,  and  the 
kingdom  brought  in,  we  may  perhaps  expect  that  the  Lord 
will  now  appear  only  with  ensigns  and  titles  of  majest}',  as 
the  conqueror  and  the  king.  It  is  not  so.  The  opening 
doxology,  "To  him  that  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  otir 
sins  in  his  own  blood,"  strikes  the  note  of  all  which  is  to  fol- 
low. When  the  historic  vision  begins,  one  is  sought  who 
may  open  the  sealed  purposes  of  God  and  conduct  them  to 
their  end.  "Then  I  beheld,  and  lo !  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne,  and  the  beasts,  and  the  elders,  stood  ...  a 
Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain"  ^  and  his  appearance  wakens  the 

^  V.  6-10.  This  passage  is  fundanniental,  as  showing  the  ground 
of  the  power  and  the  means  of  the  victory,  by  the  intentional  con- 
trast of  images.      6  Xeuv  evCKriaev     .     .     .     ISoii  apviov  tu?  €<T(^ayiJ.evov. 


LeCT.  VIII.  THE    APOCALYPSE.  211 

song,  "Thou  art  worthy  to  take  the  book,  and  to  open  the 
seals  thereof:  for  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God  by  thy  blood  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  peo- 
ple, and  nation  ;  and  hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and 
priests  :  and  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth."  So  the  vision 
proceeds,  and  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  through  the 
long  conflict,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  glorious  issue,  there 
is  still  one  title  for  him  who  conquers,  and  judges,  and 
reigns.  It  is  the  Lamb  who  makes  war  and  overcomes ; 
and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  kings  and  nations  flee.  It 
is  the  Lamb  in  whose  blood  his  servants  also  overcome  ;  in 
whose  blood  they  have  washed  their  robes ;  before  whom 
they  stand  in  white  raiment ;  and  to  whom  they  ascribe  sal- 
vation. In  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life  the  names  of  the  saved 
are  written.  The  Holy  City  is  the  bride,  the  Lamb's  wife. 
The  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple  of 
it,  and  the  light  of  it ;  and  the  river  of  the  water  of  life 
flows  forever  from  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  In  the 
peculiar  title,  thus  studiously  emploj^ed,  and  illustrated  by 
the  repeated  mention  of  the  slaving  and  the  blood,  we  read 
the  doctrine,  that  the  ground  of  the  personal  is  the  ground 
of  the  general  salvation ;  that  the  place  which  the  sacrifice 
of  the  death  of  Christ  holds  in  the  consciousness  of  the  be- 
liever, is  the  same  which  it  also  occupies  in  the  history  of 
the  Church,  and  that  he  conquers  for  us,  and  reigns  among 
us,  and  achieves  the  restoration  of  all  things,  because  he  has 
first  offered  himself  for  us,  and  is  the  Lamb  of  God  who 
takes  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 

/    No  view  of  the  death  of  Jesus  which  fuses  it  with  the 
I  rest  of  his  exaniple  could  have  suggested  the  title  by  which 
this  prophecy  so  persistently  designates  the  conqueror  and 
the  king. 


212  THE    PEOGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  VIII. 

2.  We  have  here,  in  the  next  place,  a  doctrine  of  the 
history  of  the  consummation ;  I  mean  that  besides  a  pro- 
phetic record  of  the  facts  of  the  history,  we  have  (what  is 
of  much  higher  value)  an  exposition  of  the  nature  of  the  his- 
tory. The  book  is  a  revelation  of  the  connection  between 
things  that  are  seen  and  things  that  are  not  seen,  between 
things  on  earth  and  things  in  heaven ;  a  revelation  which 
fuses  both  into  one  mighty  drama,  so  that  the  movements 
of  human  action  and  the  course  of  visible  fact  are  half 
shrouded,  half  disclosed,  amid  the  glory  and  the  terror  of 
the  spiritual  agencies  at  work  around  us,  and  of  the  eternal 
interests  which  we  see  involved.  We  are  borne  to  the 
courts  above,  and  the  temple  of  God  is  opened  in  heaven, 
and  we  behold  the  events  on  earth  as  originating  in  what 
passes  there.  There  seals  are  broken,  trumpets  are  sounded, 
and  vials  are  poured  out,  which  rule  the  changes  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  nations.  While  we  are  looking  down 
through  the  rolling  mists  on  things  that  pass  below,  we  are 
all  the  time  before  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb,  and 
among  the  four  and  twenty  elders,  the  four  living  beings, 
and  the  innumerable  company  of  angels  ;  and  we  hear 
voices  proceeding  out  of  the  throne,  the  cries  of  disem- 
bodied spirits,  and  hallelujahs  that  roll  through  the  uni- 
verse. We  see  further,  that  there  is  cause  for  this  partici- 
pation of  the  world  above  in  the  events  of  the  world  be- 
low, for  it  becomes  every  moment  more  plain,  that  the  earth 
is  the  battle-field  of  the  kingdoms  of  light  and  darkness. 
There  is  a  far  bolder  revelation  than  we  have  had  before  of 
the  presence  and  action  of  the  powers  of  evil.  The  old  Ser- 
pent is  on  one  side  as  the  Lamb  is  on  the  other,  and  the 
same  light  which  shows  the  movements  of  the  Head  and  Re- 
deemer of  our  race,  falls  also  upon  those  of  the  enemy  and 


LeCT.  VIII.  THE   APOCALYPSE.  213 

destroyer.  In  the  sense  of  this  connection  between  things 
seen  and  things  not  seen,  lies  the  secret  of  that  awe  and 
elevation  of  mind  which  we  felt  as  children  when  we  first 
turned  these  pages ;  and  the  assurance  of  it  has  an  ever- 
increasing  value  to  him  who  has  painfully  sought  to  test 
the  mingled  forms  of  good  and  ill,  and  to  discern  some  plan 
and  purpose  in  the  confused  scene  around  him. 

After  noting  the  instruction  given  on  the  cause  and  the 
history  of  the  great  consummation,  I  come  now  to  that  which 
is  given  on  its  constituent  parts,  namely,  the  coming  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  attendant  facts  of  victory,  judgment,  and 
restoration. 

3.  The  book  is  a  doctrine  of  the  power  and  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "  Behold  he  cometh  with  clouds,  and 
every  eye  shall  see  him."^  That  is  the  first  voice,  and  the 
keynote  of  the  whole.  The  Epistles  to  the  seven  Churches 
(symbolical  representatives  of  the  whole  Church  in  its  vari- 
ous conditions)  all  take  their  tone  from  this  thought,  and 
are  the  voice  of  a  Lord  who  will  "  come  quickly."  The 
visions  which  follow  draw  to  the  same  end,  and  the  last 
voices  of  the  book  respond  to  the  first,  and  attest  its  subject 
and  its  purpose.  "He  which  testifieth  these  things  saith. 
Surely  I  come  quickly.  Amen.  Even  so  come,  Lord 
Jesus."  ^  Whatever  else  the  Christian  desires  is  bound  up 
in  this  prospect.  The  deliverance  of  the  creation  from  its 
present  groans  and  travail,  the  redemption  of  our  body,  the 
perfection  of  man  in  a  holy  community,  and  the  realization 
in  outward  things  of  the  tendencies  of  the  renewed  nature, 
all  these  hopes  wait  on  the  one  hope  of  "  Ms  appearing." 
Towards  that  hope  our  eyes  have  been  steadily  directed  in 

»  Rev.  1. 7.  '  »  Ibid.  xxii.  20. 


214  THE    PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  VIII. 

the  former  apostolic  writings  ;  but  it  is  here  presented,  not 
so  much  in  relation  to  our  personal  life  as  to  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  to  the  world  itself  upon  the  whole.  It  appears 
here  as  the  "  end  of  the  world,"  ^  towards  which  all  things 
tend,  and  which  the  fuller  manifestation  of  evil  and  the 
seeming  victories  of  the  enemy  are  themselves  ordained  to 
prepare.  Differences  and  uncertainties  of  interpretation 
as  to  the  details  of  this  progressive  history  still  leave  us 
under  the  sense,  that  it  is  a  history  of  the  power  and  com- 
ing of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This  assurance,  enjoyed  at 
all  times,  grows  clearer  in  the  daj's  of  trouble,  I'ebuke,  and 
blasphemy,  and  the  darkest  times  which  the  prophecy  fore- 
bodes will  be  those  in  which  its  fullest  uses  will  be  found. 
4.  The  doctrine  of  the  coming  is  in  itself,  a  doctrine  of 
victory ;  and  that  character  pre-eminently  belongs  to  the 
apocal3'ptic  teaching.  "  In  the  world  jq  shall  have  tribu- 
lation, but  be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  overcome  the  world." 
These  were  the  last  words  of  the  Lord's  last  discourse  ;  and 
ever  after  we  feel  their  power  in  the  actions,  the  bearing, 
and  the  words  of  his  servants.  They  wrestle  against  the 
world,  and  principalities,  and  powers,  but  as  men  who  are 
upon  the  conquering  side,  and  who  know  that  their  Lord 
has  already  overcome  these  enemies,  and  triumphed  over 
them  in  his  cross.  Therefore  they  also  "  are  more  than  con- 
querors through  him  that  loved  them,"^  and  they  record 
their  conviction,  that  "  whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcom- 
eth  the  world  ;  and  that  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh 
the  world,  even  our  faith."  ^  In  the  Apocal3^pse  this  spirit 
is  still  more  distinctly  felt ;  for  there  the  virtual  victory 
becomes  a  visible  victor}^,  both  for  the  Lord  and  for  his  peo- 

1  ffui'TcXeta  Tov  aiiros.        ^  Rom.  vlll.  37.        ^  1  John  V.  4. 


LeCT.  VIII.  THE   APOCALYPSE.  215 

pie.  Every  promise  in  the  seven  Epistles  is  addressed  "  to 
him  that  overcometh  ;  "  and  the  last  Epistle  unites  the  vic- 
tory of  the  servant  with  the  victory  of  the  Lord  :  "  To  hira 
that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  on  m}-  throne ; 
even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  down  with  m}-  Father 
on  his  throne."^  When  the  prophetic  visions  are  to  com- 
mence, the  opening  of  the  book  is  represented  as  the  result 
of  victory  ,2  The  first  vision  presents  one  who  "  goes  forth 
conquering  and  to  conquer ; "  and  then,  through  all  the 
changes  of  the  conflict,  we  have  the  anticipations  and  pre- 
sages of  final  victory.  We  are  told  of  those  who  "  overcome 
by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  ; "  ^  we  hear  their  shout  of  triumph, 
and  see  the  palms  in  their  hands  ;  until  in  the  last  crisis  the 
conquering  armies  of  heaven  sweep  into  sight,  following 
the  victor  who  has  "  on  his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh  a  name 
written.  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords."* 

5.  But  victory  for  one  side  is  overthrow  and  condemna- 
tion for  the  other ;  so  that  we  have  here  also  a  doctrine  of 
judgment.  "  The  prince  of  this  world  is  judged."  That 
saying  might  stand  as  the  summary  of  a  large  part  of  the 
book.  He  is  judged  —  judged  as  the  prince  of  this  world — 
and  this  world  is  involved  in  his  judgment.  The  reality  of 
some  possession  of  this  world  by  the  power  of  evil,  and  the 

>  Rev.  iii.  21. 

^  Rev.  v.  5.     tSou  evCKTf)<T€v  o  Xe'wv  6  wv  ck  tJ)?  ^vXyjs  'lovSa  avo'^ai  to  jSi^Atov, 

*'B^l>.oM  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  prevailed  to  open  the 
book."  The  variety  of  the  words  employed  in  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion (overcome,  prevail,  conquer,  victory)  to  represent  the  one 
word  in  the  Greek,  has  the  effect  of  diminishing  the  impression 
which  this  feature  in  the  language  would  otherwise  make  on  the 
reader. 
8  Rev.  xii.  11.  *  Ibid.  xix.  11-16. 


216  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  VIII. 

certaint}'  of  its  judicial  consequences  to  him  and  to  it,  had 
been  revealed  with  increasing  distinctness  through  the  for- 
mer writings  ;  till  in  two  of  the  last  Epistles  the  "  terrible 
voice  of  most  just  judgment "  had  swelled  into  the  fall 
tones,  to  which  our  ears  had  been  accustomed  in  Old 
Testament  prophecy.  I  need  not  recall  bj^  particular  cita- 
tions the  manner  in  which  this  line  of  teaching  is  carried 
out  in  the  Apocalypse,  the  various  forms  of  strong  develop- 
ment in  which  the  power  of  evil  is  represented  as  appear- 
ing, or  the  plagues,  and  punishment,  and  final  overthrow, 
which  are  its  portion  from  the  Lord.  The  opening  procla- 
mation of  the  coming  notifies  also  its  eff'ect  on  the  world : 
"Every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  also  which  pierced 
him,  and  all  kindreds  of  the  earth  shall  wail  because  of 
him."  ^  And  these  sounds  continue.  Things  do  not  melt 
quietly  into  the  peace  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  There  is  a 
crash  of  ruin,  and  a  winepress  of  the  wrath  of  Almighty 
God,  and  a  lake  that  burns  with  fire  and  brimstone.  And 
this  judgment  falls,  not  only  on  principles  and  powers  of 
evil,  but  on  nations  of  men  ;  and  not  only  on  nations,  but 
on  separate  persons,  even  on  "  every  one  who  is  not  found 
written  in  the  book  of  life."  He  who  does  not  accept  the 
reality  of  the  world's  rebellion  and  ruin,  and  of  the  wrath 
and  judgment  which  it  brings,  must  certainlj^  reject  this 
whole  book  from  the  canon  ;  and,  with  it,  must  tear  away 
large  and  living  portions  of  every  preceding  book  of 
Scripture. 

6.  The  features  of  apocalyptic  teaching,  which  have  now 
been  noticed,  may  serve  as  instances  of  the  whole  character 
of  the  doctrine,  which  is  combined  with  its  predictions ; 

1  Rev.  i.  7. 


LeCT.  VIII.  THE   APOCALYPSE.  217 

and  which,  as  a  doctrine  of  consummation,  is  an  evident 
advance,  in  that  particular  direction,  on  the  doctrine  of  the 
Epistles.  But  it  is  when  the  prophecy  carries  us  be3^ond 
the  great  crisis,  that  this  advance  is  most  clearly  seen. 
The  coming  of  the  Lord  is  not  the  last  thing  which  we 
know.  After  that  event  has  closed  the  present  age,  after 
the  victory  has  been  won,  and  the  judgment  has  dealt  with 
things  that  are  past,  the  final  results  appear,  and  the  true 
life  of  man  begins.  The  doctrine  of  the  book  is  ultimatelj^ 
and  pre-eminently  one  of  restoration. 

"  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  for  the  first 
heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed  away,  and  there 
was  no  more  sea.  And  I  John  saw  the  holy  cit}^,  new 
Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  pre- 
pared as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband."  In  taking 
these  words  for  my  text  I  placed  myself  at  the  point 
where  the  whole  teaching  of  Scripture  culminates.  Here,  at 
the  last  step,  we  have-  a  definite  and  satisfactory  completion 
of  the  former  doctrine  of  the  future.  There  is  to  be  a  per- 
fect humanity  ;  not  only  perfect  individually,  but  perfect  in 
society.  There  is  to  be  a  city  of  God.  ''  The  Holy  City  !  " 
—  there  is  the  realization  of  the  true  tendencies  of  man. 
"New  Jerusalem  !  "  — there  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  ancient 
promises  of  God. 

Dwell  for  a  moment  on  the  word  "  city,"  under  the 
remembrance  of  what  it  was  to  those  in  whose  language 
the  book  is  written.  The  city  is  a  constitution  of  society- 
complete  in  its  own  local  habitation  ;  the.  visible  collection 
of  buildings  being  a  symbol  of  the  organized  life  within. 
It  is  the  most  perfect  realization,  and  the  most  convenient 
representation,  of  society  in  its  maturity ;  in  which  the 
various  relations  of  men  are  so  combined,  as  to  promote 

19 


218  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  VIII. 

the  welfare  of  the  several  members,  and  secure  the  unity 
of  a  common  life  to  the  whole.  "  It  is  "  (as  has  been  said) 
"the  perfecting  of  the  self-provisions  of  Nature,  and  the 
condition  of  the  highest  well-being  of  man." 

There  is  no  need  to  tell  how  poorly  this  idea  has  been 
realized  in  fact,  nor  are  the  causes  of  the  failure  remote 
from  view.  In  this  fallen  world  all  communities  have 
grown  up  under  hard  external  conditions,  and  with  a  deep 
internal  disease,  sustaining  all  sorts  of  shocks  and  wounds, 
and  often  developing  what  vigor  they  possess  in  forms  of 
violence  and  oppression.  .  History  is  the  record  of  human 
society.    There  we  see 

"  The  giant  forms  of  empires  on  their  way 
To  ruin :  one  by  one 
They  tower,  and  they  are  gone  : " 

leaving  materials  to  be  combined  again,  that  they  may  be 
again  dissolved,  and  forces  which  renew  their  eternal 
struggle  at  the  same  time  to  construct  and  to  destroy. 
Ever  since  Cain  went  forth  and  builded  the  first  city,  the 
long  experiment  has  continued  ;  and  he  who  surveys  the 
results,  in  the  communities  which  have  filled,  and  now  fill, 
the  habitable  world,  will  return  from  his  inspection  wearied 
and  disheartened,  and  little  able  to  anticipate  the  perfec- 
tion of  man  from  the  progress  of  society  and  the  education 
of  the  world. 

And  yet  human  nature  is  to  find  the  realization  of  its 
tendencies  and  the  fulfilment  of  its  hopes.  The  Bible 
opens  the  prospect  of  which  history  had  led  us  to  despair. 
It  is  one  long  account  of  the  preparation  of  the  city  of  God. 
That  is  one  distinct  point  of  view  from  which  the  Bible 
ought  to  be  regarded,  and  one  from  which  its  contents  will 


Lect.  YIII.  the  apocalypse.  219 

appear  in  clearer  light.  We  are  accustomed  in  the  present 
day  to  read  it  too  exclusively  from  the  individual  point  of 
view,  as  the  record  for  each  man  of  that  will  of  God  and 
that  way  of  salvation  with  which  he  is  personally  con- 
cerned. This  it  is,  but  it  is  more  than  this.  It  places 
before  us  the  restoration,  not  only  of  the  personal,  but  of 
the  social  life ;  the  creation,  not  onl}^  of  the  man  of  God, 
but  of  the  city  of  God  ;  and  it  presents  the  society  or  cit}^, 
not  as  a  mere  name  for  the  congregation  of  individuals,  but 
as  having  a  being  and  life  of  its  own,  in,  which  the  Lord 
finds  his  satisfaction  and  man  his  perfection.  The  "Jeru- 
salem which  is  above"  is,  in  relation  to  the  Lord,  "the 
Bride,  the  Lamb's  Wife,"^  and,  in  relation  to  man,  it  is 
"  the  Mother  of  us  all."^  In  its  appearance  the  revealed 
course  of  redemption  culminates,  and  the  history  of  man  is 
closed  :  and  thus  the  last  chapters  of  the  Bible  declare  the 
unity  of  the  whole  book,  by  completing  the  design  which 
has  been  developed  in  its  pages,  and  disclosing  the  result 
to  which  all  preceding  steps  have  tended.^  Take  from  the 
Bible  the  final  vision  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  what 
will  have   been  lost?    Not   merely  a   single   passage,   a 

1  Rev.  xxi.  9.  2  Qal.  iv.  26. 

3  UoKra  ttoAi?  (^u<rei  eerTcv,  elirep  koI  al  npCiTai  KOivoiviar  tcAo?  yap  avTrj  e«eivwv  17  5e 
^vcis  Te'Aos  €<ttCv'  olov  yap  l/catrTov  ecrrt  TJj?  ■ye^/e'crew?  TeXearOeiarjs,  ravTijv  <j>afiev  ttjv  <f>v<Tiv 
elvat  e/catrrou.  .  ,  .  Kal  irporepov  Srj  rrj  (fyvcrei  ttoAis  rj  eKaoTOs  17/Aiov  eari,  to  yap  oAo^ 

irporepov  avayxalov  elvatTov  fiepov?.  "  Every  State  Is  such  by  nature,  if 
the  primary  communities  are  (such  as  families) ;  for  that  is  the 
end  of  these.  But  nature  is  an  end,  a  consummated  thing ;  for  what 
each  thing  is  when  its  being  is  completed,  that  we  call  its  nature. 
.  .  .  And  surely  by  its  nature  a  state  is  prior  to  every  one  of  us, 
for  the  whole  is  necessarily  prior  to  the  part."  —  Aristot.  Folit.  lib. 
i.  ch.  1.    Most  true  principles  of  the  true  history  of  man ! 


220  THE   PROGRESS    OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  VIII. 

sublime  description,  an  important  revelation ;  but  a  con- 
clusion b}^  which  all  that  went  before  is  interpreted  and 
justified.  We  shall  have  an  unfinished  plan,  in  which 
human  capacities  have  not  found  their  fall  realization,  or 
divine  preparations  their  adequate  result.  To  the  mind 
that  looks  be^'ond  individual  life,  or  that  understands  what 
is  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  individual  life,  a  Bible 
that  did  not  end  by  building  for  us  a  city  of  God  would 
appear  to  leave  much  in  man  unprovided  for,  and  much  in 
itself  unaccounted  for.  But  as  it  is,  neither  of  these  de- 
ficiencies exists.  The  great  consummation  is  there,  and 
we  are  instructed  to  observe,  that,  from  the  first,  the 
desires  of  men  and  the  preparations  of  God  have  been  alike 
directed  towards  it. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  sacred  story,  the  Father  of  the 
faithful  comes  forth  into  view,  followed  by  those  who  are 
heirs  with  him  of  the  same  promise ;  and  they  separate 
themselves  to  the  life  of  strangers,  because  they  are  "looking 
for  a  city  which  hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker 
is  God."  In  due  time  solid  pledges  of  the  divine  purpose 
follow.  We  behold  a  peculiar  people,  a  divinely-framed 
polit}^,  a  holy  city,  a  house  of  God.  It  is  a  wonderful 
spectacle  —  this  system  of  earthly  types,  thus  consecrated 
and  glorified  by  miraculous  interventions  and  inspired 
panegyrics.  Do  we  look  on  the  fulfilment  of  patriarchal 
hopes,  or  on  the  t3^pes  of  their  fulfilment?  on  the  final  form 
of  human  society,  or  on  the  figures  of  the  true?  The 
answer  was  given  by  Prophets  and  Psalmists,  and  then  by 
the  word  of  the  Gospel,  finally  by  the  hand  of  God,  which 
swept  that  whole  system  from  the  earth.  It  was  gone 
when  the  words  of  the  text  were  written,  and  when  the 


LeCT.  Vm.  THE   APOCALYPSE.  221 

closing  scene  of  the  Bible  presented  the  new  Jerusalem, 
not  as  the  restoration,  but  as  the  antitype  of  the  old.^ 

This  vision  teaches  us,  that  the  drama  of  the  world  must 
be  finished,  and  its  dispensation  closed,  that  the  Lord 
must  have  come,  the  dead  have  been  raised,  the  judgment 
have  sat,  the  heavens  and  the  earth  which  are  now  have 
passed  away,  and  the  new  creation  have  appeared,  before 
the  chosen  people  shall  see  the  city  of  their  habitation. 

Meantime  it  is  the  day  of  preparation.  The  builder  of 
the  eternal  city  first  "  prepares  his  work  without,  and 
makes  it  fit  for  himself  in  the  field,  and  afterwards  builds 
his  house."  ^  There  was  much  to  be  done,  and  it  takes 
long  to  do  it.  The  members  of  the  intended  society  must 
be  sorted  and  collected  out  of  the  mass  of  mankind.  They 
must  also  be  tested  and  trained.  The  very  grounds  on 
which  the  future  work  is  to  rest  must  themselves  be  laid. 
The  perfect  society  is  to  be  founded  on  men's  relations  to 
God,  and  is  to  be  compacted  by  their  relations  to  each 
other.  The  true  relations  were  destroyed  by  sin,  and  it 
was  necessary  that  they  should  be  constituted  afresh. 

This  is  done  in  Jesus  Christ.  Propitiation  and  atone- 
ment, reconciliation  and  redemption,  are  words  which 
express  the  restoration  of  the  broken  relations  with  God, 
as  accomplished  by  the  work  of  the  Mediator.  Those  who 
receive  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord  are  thereby  in  a  state  of 
grace.  Sin  no  longer  divides  and  estranges  them  from 
God.  He  has  returned  to  them,  and  they  to  him.  They 
have  fellowship  with  the  Father  and  with  the  Son  by  the 

1  See  Alford's  Prolegomena  for  a  brief  summary  of  arguments 
for  the  traditional  date. 
*  Prov.  xxiv.  27. 
19* 


222  THE   PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  VIII. 

Holy  Ghost.  God  dwells  in  them,  and  they  in  him.  Thus 
in  each  separate  soul  are  beforehand  established  those  rela- 
tions with  God  in  Christ,  which  shall  hereafter  glorify  the 
community  of  the  saints,  in  the  day  when  "  the  throne  of 
God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  in  it,"  and  "  God  himself 
shall  be  with  them  and  be  their  God." 

To  the  reconstitution  of  men's  relations  to  God  must 
also  be  added  that  of  "their  relations  to  each  other.  To 
what  an  extent  these  have  suffered  from  the  fall  of  man  a 
glance  at  the  history  of  the  world  or  at  any  section  of 
society  is  sufficient  to  convince  us.  Not  onl}'^  the  viola- 
tions, but  the  very  institutions  of  law  and  justice  testify 
to  the  fact ;  for  the  law  is  not  made  for  a  righteous  man. 
The  inherent  vice  of  human  society  lies  in  the  depravity  of 
human  nature.  If  that  were  healed,  and  transmuted  into 
universal  righteousness  and  love,  the  internal  happiness 
and  perfection  would  be  secured.  And  they  are  to  be 
secured  in  that  city,  where  "  the  people  shall  be  all 
righteous,"^  and  where  love  shall  never  fail.  To  the 
formation  of  those  habits  of  mind  the  teaching  of  God  is 
now  visibly  directed,  and  men  are  trained,  on  the  grounds 
and  motives  of  the  Gospel,  to  love  one  another.  Love  is  v 
ever  represented  as  "  the  end  of  the  commandment,"  the  U 
highest  attainment  of  man,  the  completion  of  his  education  \ 
by  God.  And  no  wonder  it  is-  so  represented,  since  the 
present  prepares  the  future,  and  that  future  is  to  be  a  state 
of  society  —  "a  city  which  is  compact  together."^  The 
Gospel  then,  which  lays  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  receive 
it  the  deepest  grounds  of  fellowship,  and  educates  them  to 

1  Isa.  ix.  21.  2Ps.  cxxii.  3. 


LeCT.  Yin.  THE   APOCALYPSE.  223 

the  habit  of  love,  is  visibly  preparing  the  conditions  of  the 
things  to  come.  As  if  to  signalize  this  connection  of  the 
present  work  and  the  future  promise  of  the  Gospel,  it  is 
committed  to  the  last  Apostle,  who  closes  the  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, both  to  be  our  chief  teacher  in  the  love  of  the  breth- 
ren, and  to  open  to  our  eyes  the  scene  in  which  it  shall  be 
perfected. 

Thus  does  the  present  world  give  scope  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  city  of  God.  Its  fundamental  principles  are 
being  established,  its  members  gathered,  trained,  and  made 
ready.  At  the  same  time  all  moral  tendencies  are  being 
wrought  out  by  conflict  and  experience  ;  and  the  vanity  of 
what  is  vain  and  the  evil  of  what  is  evil  have  space  to  show 
themselves,  before  the  final  fires  and  the  eternal  judgment 
remove  them  forever  from  the  scene.  Then,  when  Babylon 
has  fallen,  the  city  of  God  will  appear. 

Its  fabric  and  scenery  are  described  in  symbolic  lan- 
guage glowing  with  all  precious  and  glorious  things ;  nor 
do  we  desire  an  interpreter  who  will  tell  us  what  the  sym- 
bols severally  represent,  in  the  future  details  of  the  glorified 
society.  Perhaps  such  an  attempt  would  impair,  rather 
than  enhance,  the  efiect  of  the  vision,  which  now  kindles 
the  imagination  of  expectant  faith  by  the  entire  assemblage 
of  its  glories.  I  only  dwell  upon  the  fact  that  it  is  a  city 
which  stands  before  us,  as  the  final  home  of  mankind.  If 
we  think  only  of  our  individual  portion,  we  miss  the  com- 
pleteness of  Scripture  in  its  provision  for  the  completeness 
of  man.  If  individual  blessedness  were  the  highest  thought 
of  humanity,  it  might  have  been  sufficient  to  have  restored 
the  lost  garden  of  Eden,  and  to  have  left  the  inhabitants 
of  the  new  earth  to  dwell  safely  in  its  wildernesses  and 


224  THE  PROGRESS   OF   DOCTRINE.       LeCT.  YIII. 

sleep  in  its  woods.^  Such  dreams  of  human  happiness  have 
haunted  the  minds  of  men  who  have  been  wearied  with 
the  disorders,  corruptions,  and  miseries  of  society,  till 
society  in  itself  has  seemed  to  them  a  standing  hindrance 
to  perfection,  and  almost  necessarily  an  organism  of  evil. 
Thus  the  habit  of  mind  which  flies  from  man  to  nature,  and 
desires  unconstrained  freedom,  and  would  simplify  to  the 
utmost  all  social  relations,  has  ever  looked  to  depict  a 
heaven  of  fields  and  bowers,  and  to  ask  for  the  life  of  the 
first  Paradise  again.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
religions  of  the  world  have,  for  the  most  part,  confessed  in 
this  way  their  despair  of  human  society,  and  unconsciously 
acknowledged  that  in  their  scheme  of  things  the  true 
foundations  of  it  were  wanting. 

Not  so  does  the  revelation  of  God  inform  the  expecta- 
tions of  those  who  receive  it.  Other  systems  evade  the 
demands  of  the  highest  tendencies  of  man :  this  provides 
that  they  shall  be  realized.  It  decrees  not  only  the  indi- 
vidual happiness,  but  the  corporate  perfection  of  man  ;  and 
closes  the  book  of  its  prophecy  by  assuring  the  children  of 
the  living  God  that  ''•he  hath  prepared  for  them  a  city'* 

The  survey  which  has  been  made  in  these  Lectures  ha^ 
now  carried  us  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  New 
Testament,  from  the  cradle  of  Bethlehem  to  the  city  of 
God.  We  have  seen  that  this  collection  of  various  and 
occasional  writings  presents  to  us  a  gradually  progressive 
scheme,  fully  wrought  out  in  its  several  stages,  and  ad- 
vancing in  a  natural  order  of  succession. 

First  a  person  is  manifested  and  facts  are  set  forth,  in 

^Ezek.  xxxiv.  25. 


LeCT.  VIII.  THE   APOCALYPSE.  225 

the  simplest  external  aspect,  under  the  clearest  light,  and 
with  the  concurrence  of  a  fourfold  witness.  This  witness 
also  is  itself  progressive,  and  in  the  last  Gospel  the  glory 
of  the  person  has  grown  more  bright,  and  the  meaning  of 
the  facts  more  clear. 

Then,  in  the  Book  of  Acts,  Christ  is  preached  as  per- 
fected, and  as  the  refuge  and  life  of  the  world.  The  results 
of  his  appearing  are  summed  up  and  settled  ;  and  men  are 
called  to  believe  and  be  saved.  Those  who  do  so  find 
themselves  in  new  relations  to  each  other ;  they  become 
one  body,  and  grow  into  the  form  and  life  of  a  Catholic 
Church. 

The  state  which  has  thus  been  entered  needs  to  be  ex- 
pounded, and  the  life  which  has  been  begun  needs  to  be 
educated.  The  Apostolic  letters  perform  the  work.  The 
questions  which  universally  follow  the  first  submissions  of 
the  mind  receive  their  answers,  and  so  the  faith  which  was 
general  grows  definite.  The  rising  exigencies  of  the  new 
life  are  met,  both  for  the  man  and  for  the  Church :  and  we 
learn  what  is  the  happy  consciousness,  and  what  the  holy 
conversation,  which  belong  to  those  who  are  "  in  Christ 
Jesus." 

Lastly,  as  members  of  the  body  of  Christ,  we  find  our- 
selves partakers  in  a  corporate  life  and  a  history  larger 
than  our  own.  We  feel  that  we  are  taken  up  into  a  scheme 
of  things,  which  is  in  conflict  with  the  present,  and  which 
cannot  realize  itself  here.  Therefore  our  final  teaching  is 
by  prophecy,  which  shows  us,  not  how  we  are  personally 
saved  and  victorious,  but  how  the  battle  goes  upon  the 
whole  ;  and  which  issues  in  the  appearance  of  a  holy  city, 
in  which  redemption  reaches  its  end,  and  the  Redeemer 
finds  his  joy  ;  in  which  human  tendencies  are  realized,  and 


226  THE   PROGRESS   OF  DOCTRINE.        LeOT.  VIII. 

divine  promises  fulfilled ;  in  which  the  ideal  has  become 
the  actual,  and  man  is  perfected  in  the  presence  and  glory 
of  God. 

If  this  doctrine  is  not  of  the  world,  every  step  that  it 
takes  in  advance  must  make  that  fact  more  plain.  The 
world  feels  that  it  is  so.  The  manifestation  of  Christ  it 
will  admire  and  interpret  for  itself.  The  preaching  of 
Christ  it  can  hear  and  accept  in  its  generality.  The  life 
in  Christ  through  the  Spirit  it  cannot  receive.  The  king- 
dom of  Christ  in  its  antagonism  to  itself  it  cannot  suffer. 
Yes,  the  world  is  right.  In  following  the  advancing  line 
of  doctrine  in  the  Scriptures,  we  diverge  further  and  fur- 
ther from  its  paths  and  habits  of  thought.  But  is  that  a 
subject  of  regret  ?  What  has  been  the  progress  of  doctrine 
achieved  by  the  spirit  which  is  of  the  world  ?  Into  what 
can  it  ever  lead  our  souls  ?  Into  vague  desires  to  which 
nothing  corresponds,  into  great  ideas  which  remain  ideas 
still,  into  uncertainty  and  perplexity,  into  vanity  and  vexa- 
tion of  spirit.  Only  the  written  word  of  God,  confidingly 
followed  in  the  progressive  steps  of  its  advance,  can  lead 
the  weakest  or  the  wisest  into  the  deep  blessedness  of  the 
life  that  is  in  Christ,  and  into  the  final  glory  of  the  city  of 
God. 

Perhaps  in  some  minds  this  needful  confidence  may  be 
strengthened  by  a  review  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  the  light  in  which  they  have  now  been  placed. 
When  it  is  felt  that  these  narratives,  letters,  and  visions  do 
in  fact  fulfil  the  several  functions,  and  sustain  the  mutual 
relations,  which  would  belong  to  the  parts  of  one  design, 
coalescing  into  a  doctrinal  scheme,  which  is  orderly,  pro- 
gressive, and  complete,  then  is  the  mind  of  the  reader  in 
conscious  contact  with  the  mind  of  God ;  then  the  super- 


Lect.VIII.  the  apocalypse.  227 

ficial  diversity  of  the  parts  is  lost  in  the  essential  unity  of 
the  whole  :  the  many  writings  have  become  one  Book  ;  the 
many  writers  have  become  one  Author.  From  the  position 
of  students,  who  address  themselves  with  critical  interest 
to  the  works  of  Matthew,  of  Paul,  or  of  John,  we  have  risen 
to  the  higher  level  of  believers,  who  open  with  holy  joy 
"the  New  Testament  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,"  and,  while  we  receive  from  his  own  hand  the  book 
of  life  eternal,  we  hear  him  saying  still,  "  I  have  given 
unto  them  the  words  which  thou  gavest  me." 


IS^OTES. 


NOTES. 


PEEFACE. 

Note  I.,  p.  13. 

Fob  the  customary  order  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  in 
ancient  times  we  may  rfefer  to  Manuscripts,  Catalogues,  and  Old 
Versions. 

The  testimony  of  Manuscripts  will  be  at  once  exhibited  and  cer- 
tified by  the  following  extract  from  Mr.  Scrivener's  Introduction  to 
the  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament. 

"  It  is  right  to  bear  in  mind  that  comparatively  few  copies  of  the 
whole  [Greek]  New  Testament  remain;  the  usual  practice  being  to 
write  the  four  Gospels  in  one  volume,  the  Acts  and  Epistles  in 
another:  manuscripts  of  the  Apocalypse,  which  was  little  used  for 
public  worship,  being  much  rarer  than  those  of  the  other  books. 
Occasionally  the  Gospels,  Acts,  and  Epistles  form  a  single  volume  ; 
sometimes  the  Apocalypse  is  added  to  other  books.  .  .  .  The 
Codex  Sinaiticus  of  Tischendorf  is  the  more  precious,  that  it  hap- 
pily exhibits  the  whole  New  Testament  complete :  so  would  the 
Codices  Alexandrinus  and  Ephraemi,  but  they  are  sadly  mutilated. 
No  other  uncial  copies  have  this  advantage,  and  very  few  cursives. 
In  England,  only  four  such  are  known.  .  .  .  Besides  these 
Scholtz  enumerates  only  nineteen  foreign  copies  of  the  whole  New 
Testament;  but  twenty-seven  in  all  out  of  the  whole  mass  of 
extant  documents. 

"Whether  copies  contain  the  whole  or  a  part  of  the  sacred  vol- 
ume, the  general  order  of  the  books  is  the  following :  Gospels,  Acts, 
Catholic  Epistles,  Pauline  EpisUes,  Apocalypse.  A  solitary  manu- 
script of  the  fifteenth  century  (Venet.  10,  Evan.  209)  places  the 
Gospels  between  the  Pauline  Epistles  and  the  Apocalypse  :  in  the 

231 


232  NOTES.  Pkeface. 

Codices  Sinaiticus,  Leicestrensis,  Fabri  (Evan.  90),  and  Montforti- 
anns,  as  in  the  Bodleian  Canonici  34,  the  Pauline  Epistles  precede 
the  Acts;  the  Codex  Basiliensis  (No.  4  of  the  Epistles),  and  Lam- 
beth 1182,  1183,  have  the  Pauline  Epistles  immediately  after  the 
Acts  and  before  the  Catholic  Epistles,  as  in  our  present  Bibles ; 
Scholz's  Evan.  368  stands  thus,  St.  John's  Gospel,  Apocalypse,  then 
all  the  Epistles ;  inHavniens.  I.  No.  234  of  the  Gospels  (A.  D.  1278), 
the  order  appears  to  be,  Acts,  Pauline  Epistles,  Catholic  Epistles, 
Gospels  ;  in  Basil.  B.  vi.  27  or  Cod.  1,  the  Gospels  now  follow  the 
Acts  and  the  Epistles ;  while  in  Evan.  51  the  hinder  has  set  the 
Gospels  last ;  these  however  are  mere  accidental  exceptions  to  the 
prevailing  rule.  The  four  Gospels  are  almost  invariably  found  in 
their  familiar  order,  although  in  the  Codex  Bezae  they  stand,  Mat- 
thew, John,  Luke,  Mark ;  in  the  Codex  Monacensis  (X),  John,  Luke, 
Matthew,  Mark ;  in  the  Curetonian  Syriac  version,  Matthew,  Mark, 
John,  Luke.  In  the  Pauline  Epistles,  that  to  the  Hebrews  precedes 
the  four  Pastoral  Epistles,  and  immediately  follows  the  second  to 
the  Thessalonians  in  the  four  great  Codices,  Sinaiticus,  Alexan- 
drinus,  Vaticanus,  and  Ephraem :  in  the  copy  from  which  the  Cod. 
Vatican,  was  taken,  the  Hebrews  followed  the  Galatians.  The 
Codex  Claromontauus,  the  document  next  in  importance  to  these 
four,  sets  the  Colossians  appropriately  enough  next  to  its  kindred 
and  contemporaneous  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  but  postpones  that 
to  the  Hebrews  to  Philemon,  as  in  our  present  Bibles ;  an  arrange- 
ment which  at  first,  no  doubt,  originated  in  the  early  scruples  pre- 
vailing in  the  Western  Church  with  respect  to  the  authorship  and 
canonical  authority  of  that  divine  Epistle."  ^ 

From  extant  Manuscripts  I  turn  to  the  earliest  Catalogues  of  the 
sacred  books  which  occur  in  the  writings  of  Christian  antiquity, 
and  these,  perhaps,  are  more  real  indications  of  habit  in  the  Church 
than  particular  manuscripts  can  be.  It  will  only  be  necessary  to 
advert  to  a  few  of  the  most  important  of  these  Catalogues,  and  in 
so  doing  I  refer  the  reader  to  the  Kev.  B.  F.  Westcott's  History  of 
the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  or  his  shorter  and  more  popular 
volume.  The  Bible  in  the  Church,  books  which  deal  with  a  subject 

1  Introduction  to  the  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament,  pp.  60-62. 


Preface,  notes.  233 

lying  close  to  the  foundations  of  our  faith,  in  a  spirit  not  less  rev- 
erential than  critical,  and  which  place  within  the  reach  of  ordinary- 
readers  an  exact,  lucid,  and  succinct  account  of  a  history  which 
was  before  the  property  of  the  learned. 

The  Muratorian  Fragment,  *'  of  which  the  date  may  be  fixed 
with  tolerable  certainty,  A.  D.  160-170,"  and  which  "may  be  re- 
garded on  the  whole  as  a  summary  of  the  opinion  of  the  Western 
Church  on  the  canon  shortly  after  the  middle  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, commences  with  the  last  words  of  a  sentence  which  evidently 
referred  to  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark : "  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  is  then 
expressly  mentioned  as  "  the  third,"  and  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  "  as 
the  fourth."  The  Book  of  Acts  is  mentioned  next,  and  then  thirteen 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  enumerated  in  the  following  order :  Corin- 
thians I.,  II.,  Ephesians,  Philippians,  Colossians,  Galatians,  Thessa- 
lonians  I.,  II.,  Romans,  Epistles  (it  is  observed)  written  (like  those 
in  the  Apocalypse)  to  seven  churches ;  then  Philemon,  Titus,  Timo- 
thy I.,  II.  After  observations  on  these  books,  the  Fragment  di- 
verges to  spurious  or  disputed  books,  and  the  assertion  that  the 
Epistle  of  Jude  and  two  Epistles  of  John  are  reckoned  among  the 
Catholic  (Epistles)  is  the  only  notice  of  the  remaining  books  which 
its  corrupt  and  apparently  mutilated  state  has  left. 

The  Catalogue  given  by  Eusbeius  (H.  E.  iii.  25),  c.  A.  D.  340, 
claims  a  special  importance  on  account  of  his  having  been  em- 
ployed by  Constantine  to  prepare  the  first  edition  of  the  Bible 
which  had  the  seal  of  a  central  or  sovereign  authority.  The  order 
is  the  same  as  our  own,  except  in  as  far  as  it  appears  disarranged 
by  the  principle  on  which  the  Catalogue  is  formed,  namely,  that  of 
distinguishing  the  acknowledged  from  the  controverted  books. 

"First,  then,  we  place  the  holy  quaternion  of  the  Gospels,  which 
are  followed  by  the  account  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  After 
this  we  must  reckon  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul ;  and  next  to  them  we 
must  maintain  as  genuine  the  Epistle  circulated  as  the  former  of 
John,  and  in  like  manner  that  of  Peter.  In  addition  to  these 
books,  if  possibly  such  a  view  seem  correct,  we  must  place  the 
Revelation  of  John,  the  judgments  on  which  we  shall  set  forth  in 
due  course,  and  these  are  regarded  as  generally  received.  Among 
the  controverted  books,  which  are  nevertheless  well  known  and 

20* 


234  NOTES.  Preface. 

recognized  by  most,  we  class  the  Epistle  circulated  under  the 
name  of  James,  and  that  of  Jude,  as  well  as  the  Second  of  Peter, 
and  the  so-called  Second  and  Third  of  John,  whether  they  really 
belong  to  that  Evangelist  or  possibly  to  another  of  the  same 
name."  ^ 

The  Catalogue  of  Athanasius  (Ep.  Alex.  326)  A.  D.  373,  given  in 
a  style  of  authoritative  decision,  is  as  follows  :  "  The  Books  of  the 
New  Testament  are  these,  — Four  Gospels,  according  to  Matthew, 
Mark,  Luke,  John.  Then  after  these,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and 
the  so-called  Catholic  Epistles  of  Apostles,  seven  in  number ;  thus, 
of  James,  one ;  of  Peter,  two ;  of  John,  three ;  and  after  these,  of 
Jude,  one.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  fourteen  Epistles  of  the 
Apostle  Paul,  in  their  order  written  thus  :  Romans,  Corinthians  I., 
II.,  Galatians,  Ephesians,  Philippians,  Colossians,  Thessalonians 
I.,  II.,  and  that  to  the  Hebrews ;  and  in  succession,  Timothy  I.,  II., 
Titus,  Philemon ;  and  again  the  Apocalypse  of  John."  ^ 

The  testimonies  of  Eusebius  and  Athanasius  are  in  effect  those 
of  the  Greek  and  Alexandrine  Churches.  One  other  list  promul- 
gated a  few  years  later  (A.  D.  397)  by  the  voice  of  a  whole  province, 
is  on  that  account  worthy  to  be  specified,  since  it  is  the  first  (cer- 
tain) synodical  decision  on  the  canon  of  Scripture.  It  is  found  in 
the  proceedings  of  the  third  Council  of  Carthage,  at  which  Augus- 
tine was  present.  The  order  is  as  follows  :  "  Four  books  of  the 
Gospels,  one  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  tljirteen  Epistles  of 
the  Apostle  Paul,  one  Epistle  of  the  same  to  the  Hebrews,  two 
Epistles  of  the  Apostle  Peter,  three  of  John,  one  of  James,  one  of 
Jude,  one  book  of  the  Apocalypse  of  John ;  "  ^  precisely  corre- 
sponding to  our  own  order,  except  in  the  place  given  to  the  Epis- 
tle of  James.  Lastly,  as  the  best  witness  of  Italian  custom  we 
may  take  the  Catalogue  of  Ruffinus  (c.  A.  D.  410),  in  which  the  order 
is  identical  with  that  of  the  decree  of  Carthage,  and  therefore  with 
our  own,  save  that  the  Catholic  Epistles  stand  as  follows  :  "  Two 
of  the  Apostle  Peter ;  one  of  James,  the  Lord's  brother  and  Apos- 
tle ;  one  of  Jude ;  three  of  John." 

But  perhaps  the  most  important  evidence  to  the  custom  of  the 

1  History  of  Ca»ion,  481-2.  2  Ihid.  574.  8  Ihid.  509. 


Preface.  NOTES.  235 

Church  is  not  that  of  manuscripts  or  catalogues,  but  rather  that  of 
the  two  venerable  versions  of  Syria  and  North  Africa,  which  are 
almost  coeval  with  the  first  general  recognition  of  a  collected  New 
Testament.  The  Peshito  was  popularly  and  practically  the  Bible 
of  the  Syrian  Church.  The  Old  LatiA  was,  as  it  were,  the  parent 
of  the  Vulgate,  which  became  the  common  Bible  of  the  West.  The 
order  of  the  Peshito  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  best  Greek  manu- 
scripts, the  four  Gospels,  the  Acts,  the  Catholic  Epistles  (i.  e.  those 
which  it  admitted),  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  (the  Apocalypse  being 
absent).  The  order  of  the  Vulgate  is  that  which  our  modern  Bibles 
exhibit ;  the  Old  Latin  order  of  the  Gospels,  Matthew,  John,  Mark, 
and  Luke  (which  was  ruled  no  doubt  by  the  apostolic  rank  of  the 
authors),  being  changed  by  Jerome  in  accordance  with  the  Greek 
order,  which  was  derived  not  merely  from  chronological  considera- 
tions, but  from  a  finer  doctrinal  instinct. 

This  glance  at  the  various  testimonies  which  survive,  of  the  an- 
cient customs  of  the  Church,  is  sufiicient  to  show  that  the  order 
with  which  we  are  familiar  has  substantially  prevailed  from  the 
first  recognition  of  the  separate  books  as  forming  one  collection  or 
instrument.  The  great  divisions,  the  Gospels,  the  Acts,  the  Epis- 
tles, and  the  Apocalj-pse,  occur  habitually  in  their  natural  order, 
and  though  there  are  many  variations  (most  frequently  in  regard 
to  the  position  of  the  Acts,  yet  they  are  exceptions  to  the  general 
rule.  The  books  which  compose  these  several  divisions  likewise 
assume  habitually  the  same  arrangement  as  at  present.  It  is  so 
with  the  four  Gospels,  and  with  the  Pauline  Epistles,  the  order  of 
which  is  seldom  varied  except  in  respect  of  the  place  given  to  the 
Hebrews.  The  only  important  variation,  which  obtains  extensively, 
is  in  the  relative  positions  of  the  Pauline  and  Catholic  Epistles. 
The  Manuscripts  for  the  most  part  place  the  Catholic  Epistles  next 
to  the  Acts,  and  before  the  Pauline  Epistles.  In  the  Catalogues 
the  opposite  order  is  more  frequent,  and  becomes  increasingly  so 
the  farther  we  advance.  Of  five-and-twenty  Catalogues  which  are 
collected  in  the  Appendix  to  Mr.  Westcott's  Histoi-y  of  the  Canon, 
ranging  from  c.  A.  D.  170  to  A.  D.  636,  I  find  that  seven  give  the 
first  place  to  the  Catholic,  and  eighteen  to  the  Pauline  Epistles. 

This  last  point  is  one  of  minor  importance,  yet  as  connected  with 


236  NOTES.  Preface. 

the  conformation  of  the  New  Testament  it  has  its  interest ;  and  as 
some  little  stress  is  laid  upon  it  in  one  of  these  Lectures  (the 
Vlth),  it  may  be  well  to  point  out  the  following  reasons  for  the 
greater  fitness  of  the  arrangement  which  has  upon  the  whole  pre- 
vailed. 

1.  There  is  the  closest  possible  relation  between  the  Book  of 
Acts  and  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  the  latter  part  of  the  Book  forming  as 
it  were  the  historical  introduction  to  his  writings,  so  that  we  pass 
from  one  to  the  other  by  a  natural  —  it  almost  might  seem  a  neces- 
sary —  transition. 

2.  The  unity  and  mass  of  St.  Paul's  writings  properly  claim  for 
them  precedence  over  the  fewer,  shorter,  and  less  connected 
writings. 

3.  The  course  of  doctrinal  instruction  pleads  for  the  same  ar- 
rangement, in  order  that  the  more  thorough  and  systematic  treat- 
ment of  fundamental  subjects  may  precede  that  which  is  more 
supplementary. 

4.  In  the  heart  of  the  Catholic  Epistles,  there  is  a  note  which 
seems  to  appoint  their  position,  namely,  in  the  reference  (2  Pet.  iii. 
15,  16)  to  St.  Paul's  writings  as  previously  known,  and  in  the  ex- 
press intimation  of  an  intention  to  confirm  their  doctrine. 

These  considerations  obviously  outweigh  the  one  reason  for  the 
opposite  order,  which  is  found  in  the  relative  historical  positions 
of  the  authors,  and  which,  taken  by  itself,  would  certainly  postpone 
the  productions  of  the  later  Apostle,  born  out  of  due  time,  to  those 
which  bear  the  names  of  chief  members  of  the  original  college. 


LeCT.  I.  NOTES.  237 

LECTUKE    I. 

Note  II.,  p.  39. 

In  his  recently  published  Apologia,  Dr.  Newman  has  shown  into 
what  form  he  has  found  it  necessary  to  recast  his  doctrine  of 
Development,  though  the  subject  is  touched  in  a  shy  and  uneasy 
manner. 

*'  It  (i.  e.  the  Infallible  Power  which  imposes  doctrine)  must  ever 
profess  to  be  guided  by  Scripture  and  tradition.  It  must  refer 
to  the  particular  Apostolic  truth  which  it  is  enforcing  or  (what  is 
called)  defining.  Nothing,  then,  can  be  presented  to  me  in  time  to 
come  as  part  of  the  faith,  but  what  I  ought  already  to  have  re- 
ceived, and  have  not  actually  received,  (if  not)  merely  because  it 
had  not  been  told  me.  ...  It  must  be  what  I  may  even  have 
guessed  or  wished  to  be  included  in  the  Apostolic  revelation.  .  . 
Perhaps  I  and  others  actually  have  always  believed  it,  and  the  only 
question  which  is  now  decided  in  my  behalf  is  that  I  am  hence- 
forth to  believe  that  I  am  only  holding  what  the  Apostles  held 
before  me."  ^ 

These  statements  are  then  expressly  applied  to  "the  doctrine 
which  Protestants  consider  our  greatest  diflBculty,  that  of  the  Ira- 
maculate  Conception;  "  and,  after  assuring  us  that  the  imposition 
of  this  doctrine  is  no  burden  to  himself  or  others,  and  that  he  "  sin- 
cerely thinks  that  St.  Bernard  and  St.  Thomas,  who  scrupled  at  it 
in  their  day,  had  they  lived  into  this  would  have  rejoiced  to  accept 
it  for  its  own  sake,"  he  adds  the  remark  that  "  the  number  of  those 
(so-called)  new  doctrines  will  not  oppress  us,  if  it  takes  eight 
centuries  to  promulgate  even  one  of  them.  Such  is  about  the 
length  of  time  through  which  the  preparation  has  been  carried  on 
for  the  definition  of  the  Immaculate  Conception."  ^ 

These  expressions  occur  incidentally  while  the  author  is  show- 
in  that  "the  (so-called)  new  doctrines  "  arc  "no  burden"  to  priests 
under  the  Roman  obedience,  which  of  course  is  true,  if  the  doc- 

1  Part  vii.  p.  393.  2  p.  895. 


238  NOTES.  Lect.  I. 

trines  be  such  as  they  "have  guessed  and  wished  to  be  included  in 
the  Apostolic  revelation."  But  the  expressions  themselves  are  re- 
markable as  showing  how  awkwardly  Dr.  Newman's  own  doctrine 
of  Development  has  assumed  the  garb  and  style  of  his  Church's 
doctrine  of  tradition;  his  true  account  of  a  development  which 
historically  took  place,  veiling  itself,  as  by  command,  under  its 
fiction  of  a  tradition  which  did  not  really  exist. 

A  doctrine  is  for  the  first  time  promulgated  by  the  Infallible  Au- 
thority, and  imposed  as  an  article  of  the  faith.  "  The  preparation 
for  it  has  been  carried  on  for  eight  hundred  years."  Eight  hundred 
years  ago  is  the  most  distant  point  at  which  any  '■'•preparation  "  for 
it  can  be  discerned,  that  "preparation"  being  found  in  the  first 
suggestion  of  the  opinion,  and  in  the  rejection  of  it  by  the  leading 
authorities  of  the  time  as  new  and  false ;  but  as  time  goes  on  it  gains 
influence  and  acceptance.  It  is  ackdowledged,  then,  that  in  the 
thousand  years  preceding  it  icas  ?wt  even  in  preparation,  that  there  is 
no  trace  of  it  whatever  until  its  mediaeval  dawn.  According  to 
the  doctrine  of  Development,  the  Infallible  Authority  would  decree 
its  truth  as  having  been  gradually  wrought  out  during  those  eight 
hundred  years,  and  at  last  adequately  recognized  by  the  instinct 
of  the  Church.  According  to  the  doctrine  of  Tradition,  it  must 
decree  the  truth  of  the  opinion  on  the  ground  of  its  having  been  a 
part  of  the  original  revelation  handed  down  from  the  beginning. 
In  the  one  case  it  would  aflirm  that  the  doctrine  would  have  been 
held  by  the  Apostles  if  they  had  known  of  it.  In  the  other  case  it 
must  afiirm  that  the  doctrine  tvas  made  known  to  the  Apostles  and 
that  they  did  hold  it.  To  this  latter  theory  Dr.  Newman  has  now 
seen  it  necessary  to  conform  his  language.  "  The  only  question  now 
decided  is  that  he  is  holding  what  the  Apostles  held  before  him."  The 
Infallible  Authority  is  thus  recognized,  not  as  deciding  on  the  truth 
of  an  opinion,  but  as  certifying  a  fact,  i.  e.  that  the  Apostles  held 
such  and  such  an  opinion  as  part  of  the  revelation  given  to  them. 
If  no  evidence  of  this  fact  survives,  if  no  tradition  has  handed  it 
down,  if  the  doctrine  is  one  which  only  began  to  be  prepared  eight 
hundred  years  ago,  it  is  evident  that  the  Infallible  Authority  can 
only  have  known  the  fact  which  it  certifies  by  a  direct  revelation. 

To  one  who  considers  the  exigencies  of  the  Romish  position  so 


LeCT.  I.  NOTES.  239 

glaringly  exemplified  in  connection  with  the  doctrine  here  alluded 
to,  it  must  appear  that  this  issue  of  an  attempt  to  provide  for 
those  exigencies,  by  a  theory  in  some  measure  accordant  with 
facts,  is  the  strongest  testimony  to  the  ineradicable  sense  of  Chris- 
tendom, that  the  divine  communication  of  truth  was  limited  to  the 
Apostolic  age. 

The  method  of  the  perpetuation  and  transmission  of  the  truths 
then  communicated  is  of  course  an  entirely  separate  question.  But 
whether  that  question  be  determined  as  it  is  by  Rome,  or  as  it  is 
by  us,  the  kind  of  development  of  doctrine  which  legitimately  be- 
longs to  the  Church  must  be,  on  either  hypothesis,  theoretically 
the  same.  It  must  consist  in  a  fuller  and  more  systematic  appre- 
hension of  the  truths  which  were  communicated  at  first,  not  in  the 
addition  of  truths  communicated  afterwards.  Practically,  the 
Church  of  Rome  has  acted  (as  Dr.  Newman  so  distinctly  felt)  on 
the  latter,  and  not  on  the  former,  of  these  principles  :  first  adding 
new  doctrines  on  the  most  flimsy  pretences  of  a  tradition,  and 
then  superadding  one  for  which  not  the  slenderest  thread  of  a 
tradition  could  be  shown. 


240 


NOTES. 


lect . n. 


LECTUEE  II 


Note  III.,  p.  60. 


No  more  interesting  and  suggestive  summary  of  the  comparative 
character  and  scope  of  the  several  Gospels  could  be  given,  than 
that  which  is  produced  by  simply  placing  their  respective  conclu- 
sions side  by  side. 


Matt,  xxviii. 

18-20. 

Jesus  came  and 
spake  unto  them, 
saying,  All  power 
is  given  unto  me 
in  heaven  and  in 
earth. 

Go  ye  therefore, 
and  teach  all  na- 
tions, baptizing 
them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost : 

Teaching  them 
to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever 
I  have  commanded 
you :  and,  lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world. 
Amen. 


Mark  xvi. 
15-20. 

And  he  said  un- 
to them,  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every 
creature. 

He  that  believ- 
eth  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved ; 
but  he  that  be- 
lieveth  not  shall 
be  damned. 

And  these  signs 
shall  follow  them 
that  believe;  In 
my  name  shall 
they  cast  out  dev- 
ils ;  they  shall 
speak  with  new 
tongues. 

They  shall  take 
up  serpents ;  and 
if  they  drink  any 
deadly  thing,  it 
shall  not  hurt 
them  ;  they  shall 
lay  hands  on  the 
sick,  and  they  shall 
recover. 

So  then  after  the 
Lord  had  spoken 
unto  them,  he  was 
received  up  into 
heaven,  and  sat  on 
the  right  hand  of 
God. 

And  they  went 
forth,  and  preach- 
ed everywhere,  the 
Lord  working  with 
them,  and  confirm- 
ing the  word  with 
signs  following. 
Amen. 


Luke  xxiv. 

50-53. 

And  he  led  them 
out  as  far  as  to 
Bethany,  and  he 
lifted  up  his  hands, 
and  blessed  them. 

And  it  came  to 
pass,  while  he 
blessed  them,  he 
was  parted  from 
them,  aud  carried 
up  into  heaven. 

And  they  wor- 
shipped him,  and 
returned  to  Jeru- 
salem with  great 
joy : 

And  were  con- 
tinually in  the 
temple,  praising 
and  blessing  God. 
Amen. 


John  xx. 

28-31. 

And  Thomas  an- 
swered and  said 
unto  liim.  My  Lord 
aud  my  God. 

Jesus  saith  unto 
him,  Thomas,  be- 
cause thou  hast 
seen  me,  thou  hast 
believed  :  blessed 
are  they  that  have 
not  seen,  and  yet 
have  believed. 

And  many  other 
signs  truly  did 
Jesus  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  disci- 
ples, which  are  not 
written  in  this 
book: 

But  these  are 
written,  that  ye 
might  believe  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God  ; 
and  that  believing 
ye  might  have  life 
through  his  name. 


LeCT.  II.  NOTES.  241 

Here  we  see,  1.  In  St.  Matthew,  the  Royal  Lawgiver,  or  King  and 
Teacher  of  men,  endued  with  all  authority,^  founding  a  kingdom 
for  all  nations,  with  its  ordinance  of  admission  (baptism)  and  its 
permanent  laws  ("Whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you"):  and 
still  the  kingdom  is  (as  it  were)  a  school,  in  which  his  commis- 
sioners are  charged  to  continue  the  work  of  teaching  which  he  had 
begun. 2 

2.  In  St.  Mark  the  MigMy  Worker,  who  leaves  the  energy  of  his 
action  in  his  Church.  Kot  here  is  represented  the  slower  process 
of  forming  and  training  communities,  but  the  bold  and  world-wide 
proclamation,  with  the  sure  execution  of  its  sanction. ^  Then  the 
signs  of  living  power  are  to  follow  those  that  believe,  beginning 
with  the  casting  out  of  devils  in  his  name.  Finally,  the  scene  is 
changed  in  a  moment,  and  the  command  and  promise  are  seen  in 
their  fulfilment  —  the  Lord  in  heaven,  the  disciples  on  earth  —  they 
going  forth  and  preaching  everywhere,  and  the  Lord  still  working 
with  them  and  confirming  the  word  by  the  signs  of  power. 

3.  In  St.  Luke,  the  Friend  of  Man,  sending  to  all  nations  the 
message  of  repentance  and  remission  of  sins,  and  ensuring  to  his 
messengers  the  promise  of  his  Father;  while  the  reality  of  kind 
companionship  is  preserved  to  the  end,  in  the  mention  of  locali- 
ties, movements,  and  gestures  ("  He  led  them  out  as  far  as  to 
Bethany,"  *'  He  lifted  up  His  hands  and  blessed  them,"  "  He  was 
parted  from  them"),  the  parting  itself  being  one  of  love  (while 
He  blessed  them),  and  one  which  leaves  behind  it  a  state  of  wor- 
ship and  joy. 

4.  In  St.  John,  the  Son  of  God,  receiving  from  the  lately  doubt- 
ing disciple  the  highest  acknowledgment  which  had  yet  come  from 
human  lips,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God,"^  and  then,  as  it  were,  lifting 
up  his  eyes  beyond  the  little  company  who  had  seen  him,  and  pro- 
nouncing for  all  ages  and  nations  a  blessing  on  those  who,  not 
having  seen,  should  yet  have  believed.  Yet  farther,  the  Evangelist 
speaks  from  himself,  thus  characteristically  closing  the  only  gospel 
in  which  the  thoughts  of  the  writer  have  been  mingled  with  his 

1  efoutria.  2  /oia^rjTevaaTe  —  SiSatTKOvrei. 

3  Compare  the  iMaOrjTevaare  nivTa  rd  iOvij  with  the  KJjpvf  are  Tracrjj  rrj  KTitrei., 

4  6  Kupio?  fiov  Koi  6  ©eds  fJiOv, 

21 


242  NOTES.  Lect.  II. 

narrative.  He  tells  us  that  he  has  given  us  incidents  intentionally 
selected  for  a  certain  definite  purpose,  namely,  to  present  the 
great  object  of  faith  in  his  highest  character  as  the  Son  of  God, 
and  so  to  secure  the  result  of  faith  in  its  deepest  essence,  "life 
through  his  name." 

Note  IV.,  p.  66. 

This  effect  of  the  opening  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  and  so  of  the 
whole  Gospel  record,  is  well  described  by  Lange  : 

"  The  genealogy,  &c.,  with  which  the  Gospel  according  to  Mat- 
thew opens,  is  of  the  greatest  importance.  The  first  Gospel  con- 
nects the  New  Testament  with  the  Old,  not  by  giving  an  index  of 
the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  by  delineating  the  Old  Tes- 
tament genealogy  of  Jesus.  This  serves  not  merely  as  evidence 
of  the  indissoluble  connection  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Tes- 
tament, which  continued  in  the  secret  recesses  of  Jewish  life  even 
during  the  age  of  the  Apocrypha,  but  expresses  the  important 
truth  that  God  revealed  himself  »nd  carried  on  his  covenant  pur- 
poses, not  only  by  the  spoken  and  written  word,  but  also  and  chiefly 
in  and  by  the  seed  of  Abraham,  until  he  came  in  whom  both  imper- 
sonation and  revelation  had  reached  their  climax. 

"  In  the  Gospel  by  Matthew  the  life  of  Jesus  is  presented  as 
forming  part  of  the  history  and  life  of  the  Jewish  nation ;  and 
hence  as  the  historical  fulfilment  of  the  blessing  promised  to  Abra- 
ham and  to  his  seed.  Jesus  is  here  set  before  us  as  the  new-born 
King  of  the  Jews,  as  the  promised  Messiah,  and  the  aim  and  goal  of 
every  progressive  stage  of  the  theocracy.  He  is  the  great  Anti- 
type of  Old  Testament  history,  in  whom  everything  has  been  ful- 
filled—  the  types  in  the  law,  in  worship,  in  historical  events,  and 
in  gracious  interpositions — in  short,  the  fulfilment  of  the  theoc- 
racy. In  and  with  him  the  old  covenant  passes  into  the  new,  the 
theocracy  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  the  demands  of  the  law  into 
the  beatitudes,  Sinai  into  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes,  the  prophetic 
into  the  teaching  oflice,  the  priesthood  into  redemption  by  suffer- 
ing, and  the  kingship  into  the  triumph  of  almighty  grace,  restoring, 
helping,  and  delivering  a  fallen  world."  ' 

1  Laage,  Commentary  on  St.  Matthew,  pp.  49,  50. 


LeCT.  II.  NOTES.  243 

Again,  in  his  other  work,  the  same  thoughts  occur :  — 
*'  He  (St.  Matthew)  exhibits  the  Gospel  iu  its  historical  relation 
as  the  completion,  the  spiritual  fruit  of  the  Christological  growth 
in  the  Old  Testament.  It  was  his  task  to  prove  to  his  own  nation 
that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  David,  the  Sou  of  Abra- 
ham. (Chap.  i.  1.)  But  just  because  Christ  was,  in  his  eyes,  the 
true  and  spiritual 'King  of  the  Jews,  aud  His  kingdom  the  true 
theocratic  kingdom  of  God,  did  Matthew  from  the  verj^  first  give 
prominence  to  the  great  contrast  between  the  spiritual  Israel  and 
the  worldly  aud  hardened  Israel.  Thence  it  was  that  from  the 
beginning  new  conflicts  were  ever  arising,  thence  that  we  con- 
tinually meet  with  fresh  sufierings  of  the  holy  Heir  of  the  ancient 
theocracy  till  His  death  upon  the  cross,  new  triumphs  till  the 
manifestation  of  His  glory.  The  series  of  the  Messiah's  sufi'erings 
runs  through  the  whole  of  this  gospel  as  its  prevailing  thought."  ^ 


Note  V.,  p.  71. 

The  essential  identity  of  the  synoptist  view  of  the  person  of 
Christ  with  that  given  by  St.  John  is  ably  asserted  by  Dorner.  It 
may  be  well  to  cite  a  part  of  his  argument :  — 

"  Taking  the  notices  of  the  Synoptists  together,  it  thus  appears 
that  for  all  eternity,  also  for  the  eternal  life-  in  heaven,  the  Person 
of  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  Man,  forms  the  centre 
point  of  the  Christian  religion,  in  the  trials  aud  in  the  triumphs  of 
individuals  and  of  the  Church.  He.  is  the  perfect  Lawgiver.  He 
not  merely  reveals,  but  he  realizes  as  well,  the  holy  and  just  as 
the  gracious  will  of  God ;  hence  is  He  also  the  Judge  of  the  world. 
He  has  and  exercises  power  over  the  whole  world,  even  as  he  does 
over  the  spiritual ;  He  communicates  here  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  there  eternal  felicity ;  and  the  summit  of  the 
latter  is  ever  formed  by  perfect  fellowship  with  His  Person.      .  . 

"  It  may  be  boldly  afiirmed  that  the  entire  representation  of 
Christ  given  by  the  Synoptists  may  be  placed  by  the  side  of  the 
Johannine  as  perfectly  identical,  inasmuch  as  faith,  moulded  by 

1  Life  of  Christ,  vol.  i.  249.  2  ^wrj  atwj/tos. 


244  NOTES.  Lect.III. 

means  of  the  synoptic  tradition,  must  have  essentially  the  same 
features  in  its  conception  of  Christ  as  the  Christ  of  John  has. 

"  The  passages  in  John  which  speak  the  most  loftily  of  Christ 
are  those  to  which  the  Synoptists  supply  exactly  the  closest  paral- 
lels, whilst  some  of  the  strongest  traits  in  the  latter  find  no 
parallel  in  John ;  comp.  Matt.  ix.  2-6  with  John  v.  41  (viii.  11), 
Matt,  xxviii.  18-20  with  John  iii.  35.  But  as  these  latter  synoptic 
traits  are  assuredly  capable  of  being  without  difficulty  incorporated 
with  John's  representation  of  Christ,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  may 
what  John,  with  Paul  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  advances, 
that  goes  beyond  the  synoptists  —  that,  namely,  which  has  relation 
to  the  element  of  pre-existence  — be  brought  into  relation  to  them. 
The  Christ  of  the  Synoptists  stands  already  so  high  above  the 
Ebionitic  Christ;  He  is  especially  through  His  eschatological 
aspect  so  linked  with  the  world- idea,  that  to  the  synoptic  faith 
there  needs  to  be  added  not  so  much  a  new  object  as  simply  a 
stronger  interest  of  gnosis ;  and  so  also  it  is  that  this  faith  can 
find  satisfaction  in  no  narrower  utterance  concerning  Christ  than 
in  such  a  one  as  the  dogma  of  His  pre-existence  will  enunciate. 

"In  point  of  fact  there  are  not  wanting  in  the  Synoptists  them- 
selves the  beginning  of  such :  comp.  Luke  vii.  37,  Matt.  xi.  19, 
where  Christ  calls  himself  the  Wisdom,  with  Prov.  viii..  Matt.  xi. 
27;  especially,  however,  Luke  xi.  49  with  Matt,  xxiii.  34 ;  Matt, 
xiii.  17,  Luke  x.  23-24,  with  John  viii.  56  ff."  ^ 


LECTURE   III. 

Note  VI.,  p.  95. 

This  hindrance  is  strongly  put  in  some  words  of  Draseke  quoted 
by  Stier :  — 

"The  old  Messiah  in  the  flesh  is  with  them:  therefore  the  new 
Comforter,  the  Spirit,  is  far  from  them.  What  hindered  their 
being  comforted?    Jesus  himself,  who,  comforting,  stood  before 

1  DorncT,  Ou  the  Person  of  C'brijt,  Introduclion,  pp.  00,  01. 


LeCT.  IV.  NOTES.  245 

them,  was  the  hindrance  I  As  long  as  he.  this  Messiah,  bearing 
all  the  prophetic  marks  upon  him,  stood  before  them  in  person, 
this  his  person  continued  to  be  a  foundation  and  prop  to  that  sys- 
tem of  vanities  which  bewitched  their  heads  and  hearts.  The 
Form  must  pass  away  from  their  eyes  before  the  Spirit  could  enter 
their  souls.  It  was  good  for  them  that  Jesus  should  go  away. 
Before  he,  the  Christ  after  the  fiesh,  went  away,  the  Christ  after 
the  Spirit  could  not  come.  When  the  former  vanished,  the  latter 
appeared."* 


LECTURE    IV. 

Note  VII.,  p.  103. 

Baumgarten's  Apostolic  History  starts  at  once  from  the  right 
point  of  view ;  and  the  effect  of  this  is  felt  through  the  whole 
work.  I  subjoin  a  part  of  his  criticism  on  the  cardinal  expression, 
which  indicates  the  relation  between  the  two  histories  treated  by 
St.  Luke,  in  support  of  that  view  of  it  which  is  briefly  given  in  the 
text  of  the  lecture  :  — 

*'  From  the  words,  '  which  Jesus  began  both  to  do  and  to  teach,' ' 
we  perceive  that,  through  the  Gospel,  St.  Luke  intends  Jesus  to 
be  regarded  as  the  acting  subject  of  this  history.  Consequently, 
whatever  else  the  Gospel  narrates,  whether  the  actions  of  other 
persons  or  the  sufferings  of  the  Saviour  himself,  his  labors,  either 
In  doing  or  in  teaching,  are  to  be  considered  as  the  central  point 
from  which  the  whole  is  determined.  But  now  it  i?  of  especial 
significance  that  in  this  passage  there  occurs  a  word  which,  corre- 
sponding to  the  term  npC>Tovj  refers  us  with  equal  precision,  as  well 
to  what  follows,  as  to  what  precedes.  It  is  the  word  rip^ro.  With 
good  reason  has  Meyer  maintained  that  this  word  has  a  peculiar 
emphasis,  and  has  therefore  rightly  rejected  all  such  expositions 
of  it  as  would  explain  away  its  force.  But  the  explanation  which 
he  himself  proposes  is  equally  fatal  to  the  emphatic    character 


1  Words  of  the  Lord  Jestis,  vol.  vi.  p.  337. 

2  5tv  ^p^aro  6  'l7j<rous  Jroteiv  re  koX  6i£aaK€iv, 
21* 


246  NOTES.  Lect.  IV. 

which  he  claims  for  it.  He  sees  in  it,  for  instance,  an  antithesis  of 
this  Iciud,  '  Jesus  began  —  the  Apostles  carried  on.'  But  the  pe- 
culiar force,  which  Meyer  has  just  claimed  for  ^p^olto  (began),  de- 
pends, so  far  as  I  can  see,  on  its  position,  standing  as  it  does  before 
the  name,  which,  in  itself,  comprises  the  whole  subject-matter  of 
the  Gospel.     .    .    . 

*'  The  impressive  force  of  the  word  ^pfaro  will,  therefore,  be  duly 
appreciated  as  soon  as,  with  Olshauseu  (in  loc.)  and  Schnecken- 
burger,  we  regard  it  as  characterizing  and  referring  to  the  whole 
of  Jesus'  labors  during  his  existence  on  earth  —  in  other  words,  as 
describing  the  whole  course  of  his  labors  up  to  the  time  of  his 
ascension  as  initiatory  and  preparatory. 

"  If,  therefore,  at  the  commencement  of  a  second  book,  all  that 
had  been  narrated  in  the  first  is  characterized  as  the  work  of  the 
initiatory  labors  of  Jesus,  is  not  this  a  plain  intimation  that  in  the 
second  book  we  are  to  look  for  an  account  of  the  further  continu- 
ance of  those  labors  ?  "  ^ 

Note  VIII.,  p.  112. 

The  view,  which  is  given  in  the  text,  of  St.  Paul's  testimony, 
concerning  the  sources  from  which  he  had  derived  his  gospel,  and 
particularly  of  his  assertion,  1  Cor.  xi.  23,  was  not  reached  with- 
out some  hesitation.  It  had  once  seemed  to  me  (as  probably  it 
does  to  most  readers)  that  the  interpretation  of  the  words  eyw 
»rapeAoj3ov  a.nh  tow  Kupiou,  was  dcclded  by  the  morc  definite  language  of 
Gal.  i.  12 ;  and  also  that  the  express  mention  both  of  the  «vw  and 
the  Kvpios  was  more  natural,  on  the  supposition  that  the  Apostle 
meant  to  intimate  an  immediate  personal  communication  from  the 
Lord  to  himself.  The  first  of  these  reasons  is  removed,  if  the 
expressions  in  the  Corinthians  on  the  one  hand,  and  those  in  the 
Galatians  and  Ephesiaus  on  the  other,  contemplate  the  Gospel  (as 
they  obviously  do)  from  the  two  diflerent  sides  of  history  and 
doctrine.  The  second  reason  was  merely  a  confirmation  of  an  in- 
terpretation accepted  upon  other  grounds,  and  has  no  great  force 

1  Baumgarten's  Apostolic  History  (Clarke's  Tr.),  sect.  1,  pp.  10,  11. 


Lect.  IV.  NOTES.  247 

by  itself.  It  is  an  argument  of  the  same  kind,  but  perhaps  of 
scarcely  as  much  weight,  as  that  which  is  adduced  on  the  other 
side  from  the  use  of  a^d  instead  of  napd.  Dean  Alford's  decision 
(the  opposite  of  that  which  is  adopted  in  the  lecture)  seems  to  me 
too  hastily  given  in  regard  to  a  point  of  so  much  interest ;  and  he 
treats  the  question  of  the  preposition  too  slightingly  :  — 

<'FoR  I  (no  emphasis  on  e-yw  as  Mej^er,  al.,  see  ch.  vii.  28  com- 
pared with  32;  Gal.  vi.  17;  Phil.  iv.  11)  received  from  the  Lord 
(by  special  revelation,  see  Gal.  i.  12).  Meyer  attempts  to  deny  that 
this  revelation  was  made  to  Paul  himself,  on  the  strength  of  a^ro 
meaning  indirect,  napd  direct  reception  from  any  one  :  but  this  dis- 
tinction is  fallacious  :  e.  g.  1  John  i.  5,  av-rri  iarlv  rj  enayyekla  yjv  dKrjKoafjieV 

an  avTod.  He  supposes  that  it  was  made  to  Ananias  or  some  other, 
and  communicated  to  Paul.  But  the  sole  reason  for  this  somewhat 
culmsy  hypothesis  is  the  supposed  force  of  the  preposition,  which 
has  no  existence.  If  the  Apostle  had  referred  only  to  the  Evan- 
gelical tradition  or  writings  (?)  he  would  not  have  used  the  first 
person  singular,  but  napeKd^oixev."  ^ 

*'  The  supposed  force  of  the  preposition,  which  has  no  exist- 
ence," is  an  over-confident  expression.  Against  this  decision  must 
be  weighed  the  opinion  given  by  others,  e.  g.  by  Winer:  "After 
verbs  of  receiving,  &c.,  dTrd  has  merely  the  general  meaning  of 
whence :  Matt.  xvii.  25,  aTrb  nViov  Xafx^dvovcn  Te\yj ;  it  is  Icings  who  are 
the  Kafji^dvovTes;  Trapa  would  have  indicated  the  immediate  gathering 
of  the  taxes,  and  would  have  been  employed  in  this  passage  had 
the  tax-gatherers  been  spoken  of  as  the  Aa/iiSai/ovre?.  In  the  expres- 
sion Xafjipdvovre^  napd  Tivo?  thc  Tis  dcnotcs  the  pcrson  actually  deliver- 
ing or  tendering :  in  Aa/xpavovTe?  ano  t«  o?  it  denotes  merely  the  pro- 
prietor.     .      .      .      Paul,  in  1  Cor.  Xi.  23,  writes  napiXa^ov  anh  rov  KvpCov, 

'  I  received  of  the  Lord,'  not,  the  Lord  himself  has  directly,  per- 
sonally, in  an  dnoKd^^vxpis,  communicated  it  to  me."  ^ 
Winer's  judgment  is  adopted  by  Bishop  EUicott.    On  Gal.  12, 

oiiSe  yap  eyi)  napa  auOpdjnov  napeka^ov,   hC    SSLJS,  ^^  napa  ivOpdinov    'frOm    man,' 

not  synonymous  with  aTrb  dveptanov,  the  distinction  between  the  prep- 
ositions after  verbs  of  receiving,  &c.  (napd  more  immediate,  anh  more 

1  Alford  in  loc.  2  Grammar  of  K.  T.  Diction,  p.  .388. 


248  NOTES.  Lect.  IV. 

remote  source),  being  apparently  regularly  maintained  in  St.  Paul's 
Epistles.  Compare  1  Cor.  xi.  23,  irapeXa^ov  a-no  rov  Kvpiov,  on  which 
Winer  {De  Verb.  Comp.  Fasc.  ii.,  p.  7)  rightly  observes,  'non^apa 
TOW  KvpCov,  propterea  quod  non  ipse  Christus  prassentem  docuit.' " 

The  example  given  by  Alford  on  the  other  side  appears  of  little 
value,  as  the  enayyexia  t]v  i/cTjKoaftei'  an  avTov  is  uot  a  sayiug  citcd  by  St. 
John  as  uttered  to  him  personally  by  the  mouth  of  Christ,  but  a 
general  summary  of  the  message  with  which  the  teachers  of  the 
Church  were  entrusted  by  their  Lord.  On  the  whole,  the  force  of 
the  preposition  may  be  stated  thus  :  it  does  not  compel  us  to  adopt 
either  interpretation,  but  it  is  more  accurate,  more  natural,  and 
more  in  accordance  with  the  usage  of  Scripture,  when  interpreted 
not  in  the  sense  of  an  immediate,  but  of  a  more  remote  reception. 
If  we  should  probably  conclude  that  the  general  facts  of  the  Gos- 
pel history  (e.  g.  those  mentioned  in  1  Cor.  xv.  3-7)  were  not  com- 
municated to  St.  Paul  by  direct  revelation,  we  should  have  no 
reason  to  suppose  an  exception  in  regard  to  the  facts  of  the  insti- 
tution of  the  Lord's  Supper;  unless  the  language  employed  in 
regard  to  that  subject  obliged  us  to  do  so.  Apparently  that  is  not 
the  case,  the  preposition  used  agreeing  rather  with  the  opposite 
opinion,  and  certainly  not  being  that  which  would  seem  likely  to 
have  been  chosen,  if  it  had  been  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to  assert 
the  exceptional  nature  of  this  particular  communication.  Thus 
the  addition  of  anb  rov  KvpCov  to  napiXapov  wiU  ouly  indicate  the  im- 
portance of  the  acts  and  words  of  the  "institution,  as  handed  down 
by  the  known  will,  and  (probably)  by  the  express  charge,  of  the 
Lord. 

In  regard  to  the  whole  question  of  the  sources  of  St.  Paul's 
doctrine,  it  seems  to  me  that  his  own  expressions  lead  us  to  class 
them  as  follows :  (1)  the  report  of  others,  conveying  to  him  the 
historical  facts  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ;  (2)  direct  and  defi- 
nite revelations  from  the  Lord  Jesus,  ascertaining  to  him  the  main 
features  of  the  doctrine  which  it  was  his  special  work  to  deliver ; 
(3)  a  general  inspiration  or  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  present 
in  his  experience,  in  the  workings  of  his  own  mind,  and  more 
particularly  in  his  study  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures. 

The  last  mentioned  method  of  illumination  is  evidently  of  a  pro- 


Lect.  IV.  NOTES.  249 

gressive  character.  In  reference  to  this  subject  Ellicott's  observa- 
tion, in  his  comment  on  Gal.  i.  12,  is  fair  and  reasonable  :  — 

"  It  is  a  subject  of  continual  discussion,  whether  the  teaching  of 
St.  Paul  was  the  result  of  one  single  illumination,  or  of  progres- 
sive development.  The  most  natural  opinion  would  certaiulj-  seem 
to  be  this  :  that  as,  on  the  one  hand,  we  may  reverently  presume  that 
all  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  Gospel  would  be  fully  revealed  to 
St.  Paul,  before  he  commenced  preaching;  so,  on  the  other,  it 
might  have  been  ordained,  that,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
our  spiritual  nature,  its  deepest  mysteries  and  profoundest  harmo- 
nies should  be  seen  and  felt  through  the  practical  experiences  of 
his  apostolical  labors." 

I  would  only  wish  to  add  to  this  statement  of  the  case  a  distinct 
mention  of  that  continuous  ministration  of  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  to  his  mind,  which  is  perceptible  in  all  his  writings, 
and  to  which  attention  is  called  in  Note  XII. 

Note  IX.,  p.  120. 

Every  day  we  become  more  familiar  with  that  view  of  the  Apos- 
tolic writings,  which  distinguishes  between  the  narrator  and  the 
commentator,  assigning  a  commanding  authority  to  the  bare  wit- 
ness of  facts,  of  sayings  of  the  Lord,  and  of  revelations  distinctly 
tisserted,  and  denying  such  authority  to  the  expositions  of  the  doc- 
trine involved  in  those  facts,  sayings,  and  revelations.  In  the  one 
department  of  their  work  they  are  true  witnesses,  delivering  to  us 
the  words  of  God.  In  the  other  they  are  fallible  men,  theorizing 
or  theologizing  under  the  mingled  advantages  and  disadvantages 
which  might  result  from  their  historical  position.  This  bisection 
(if  I  may  use  the  word)  of  the  testimony  of  our  appointed  teach- 
ers, leaves  us  the  divine  foundations  of  a  theology,  but  sweeps 
away  the  divine  theology  itself,  which  they  were  laid  to  support. 
We  are  at  full  liberty  to  raise  other  edifices  in  its  stead,  or,  which 
will  be  better  still,  we  may  leave  the  materials  unused  and  the 
ground  unoccupied.  The  intimations  of  this  view  of  the  inspired 
writings  are  often  hurtful,  only  because  they  are  disguised ;  the 
theory  not  being  avowed,  while  the  language  appropriate  to  it  is 
used.    It  will  be  well  to  keep  the  theory  itself  distinctly  in  sight, 


250  NOTES.  Lr.CT.  IV. 

as  it  will  explain  the  meaning  and  expose  the  tendeuc}'  of  many- 
arguments  and  insinuations  which  might  else  make  injurious  im- 
pressions on  unestablished  faith.  Perhaps  this  theory  cannot  be 
better  exhibited  than  in  the  following  words  of  one  of  its  leading 
advocates :  — 

"As  to  what  especially  concerns  the  religious  doctrines  con- 
tained in  the  Bible,  it  is  clear,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  that 
we  are  only  bound  to  notice  those  doctrines  which  can  be  directly 
referred  to  inspiration.  We  therefore  need  pay  no  regard  to  those 
doctrines  which  lay  no  claim  to  be  considered  as  inspired,  and  do 
not  come  before  us  as  forming  part  of  a  Divine  revelation.  Such, 
for  instance,  are  the  doctrines  of  the  Mosaic  cosmogony,  tlie  sim- 
ple historical  narratives  in  both  the  Testaments,  &c.  Above  all, 
those  parts  of  the  Bible  which  cannot  be  directly  derived  from  in- 
spiration, consequently  everything  in  the  writings  of  the  prophets 
(and,  taking  the  word  in  a  wide  sense,  of  the  apostles  also)  which 
is  in  any  degree  of  a  a  scientific  character,  the  result  of  reflection, 
and  in  any  sense  whatever  the  work  of  science,  true  and  impor- 
tant as  it  may  be,  these,  one  and  all,  have  not  a  binding  authority 
upon  us.  But  further,  all  developments  of  doctrine,  which  were  in 
point  of  fact  the  commencement  of  a  theology,  have  a  large  margin 
belonging  to  them.  Take,  for  instance,  the  theological  theories  and 
pecidiar  views  of  Paul  and  John,  although  in  another  regard  they 
have  an  especial  value  for  us,  yet  per  se  they  are  not  revelation. 
Their  authors  w^orked  them  out  with  much  painftd  thought,  and 
their  thought  we  also  truly  regard,  when  striving  like  them  to 
master  the  subject;  yet  they  never  claim  for  their  theological  de- 
ductions a  binding  authority  upon  others.  On  the  other  hand,  all 
the  direct  declarations  in  Holy  Scripture  about  our  salvation,  all  the 
great  historical  facts  of  the  great  drama  of  revelation,  especially 
the  contents  of  the  Gospels,  these  have  all  a  binding  authority  upon 
us.    These  are  the  points  on  wiiich  Paul  and  John  theologize. 

*'  It  is  this  assertion  of  the  comparative  authority  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  which  is  the  only  means  of  securing  them  from  forced 
and  violent  interpretations."  '  It  would  be  more  true  to  say  —  of 
exposing  them  to  such  interpretations. 

1  R.  Rothe,  in  an  article  in  Studien  und  Kritiken,  18C0. 


LeCT.  IV.  NOTES.  251 


Note  X.,  p.  126. 

"  If  such  a  spirit  did  not  dwell  in  the  Church,  the  Bible  would 
not  be  inspired;  for  the  Bible  is,  before  all  things,  the  loritten  voice 
of  the  congregation.  Bold  as  such  a  theory  of  inspiration  may 
sound,  it  was  the  earliest  creed  of  the  Church,  and  it  is  the  only 
one  to  which  the  facts  of  Scripture  answer.  The  Sacred  Writers 
acknowledge  themselves  men  of  like  passions  with  ourselves, 
and  we  are  promised  illumination  from  the  Spirit  which  dwelt  in 
them."  1 

These  words  of  Dr.  TVilliams  give  a  distinct  statement  of  a  view 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  is  often  presented  in  more  ambigu- 
ous language.  The  Bible  is  the  voice  of  the  congregation,  in  the 
sense  of  being  a  voice  adopted  b}"  the  congregation,  as  the  expres- 
sion of  its  mind  forever;  and  assertions  may  be  made  concerning 
the  Scriptures,  which  are  true  in  this  sense,  while  they  are  false  in 
the  sense  which  they  are  meant  to  bear :  but  this  sense  is  here 
disclaimed  by  the  words  "before  all  things,"  which  deny  that  the 
Scriptures  have  any  character  antecedent  to  this.  This  denial  flatly 
contradicts  the  real  voice  of  the  congregation,  which  has  always 
acknowledged  and  adopted  the  Scriptures,  in  the  character. of  a 
voice  which  came  to  it,  not  in  that  of  a  voice  which  proceeded 
from  it.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  the  Church  has  always 
considered  and  avowed,  that  she  was  called  into  existence  by  the 
Apostolic  agency :  and  that  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles  was  the 
cause  and  not  the  product  of  her  faith.  It  is  no  less  certain,  that 
she  has  from  the  first  acknowledged  and  received  the  canonical 
books,  as  being  themselves  a  part,  the  icritten  part,  of  that  Apos- 
tolic teaching,  that  is  to  say,  as  being  the  permanent  form  of  the 
word  by  which  her  faith  was  first  created. 

This  acknowledgment  of  the  Catholic  Church,  concerning  her 
own  origin  and  the  relation  of  the  Scriptures  to  it,  does  in  fact 
dispose  of  the  questions  which  we  often  hear  debated  —  whether 
the  Church  is  before  the  Bible,  or  the  Bible  before  the  Church  — 
whether  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  stand  upon  Christianity,  or 

1  Essays  and  Heviews,  p.  78. 


252  NOTES.  Lect.  IV. 

Christianity  upon  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  It  is  certain 
that  the  Church  existed  before  the  Bible,  and  Christianity  before 
the  New  Testament  Scriptures;  but  it  is  also  certain  that  the 
Church  and  Christianity  derived  their  own  existence  from  the  word 
which  those  Scriptures  contain.  The  word  was  antecedent  to  the 
existence  of  the  Church,  as  the  cause  is  to  the  effect ;  the  writing 
of  that  word,  and  its  reception  when  written,  were  subsequent  to 
the  formation  of  the  Church,  but  the  writing  only  made  permanent 
for  future  time  the  word  by  which  the  Church  had  been  created; 
and  the  reception  of  the  writings  only  recognized  them  as  the  same 
word  in  its  form  of  permanence.  Thus,  while  the  Church  is  chrono- 
logically before  the  Bible,  the  Bible  is  potentially  before  the  Church ; 
since  the  written  word,  which  is  the  ground  of  faith  to  later  genera- 
tions of  Christians,  is  one  in  origin,  authority,  and  substance  with 
the  oral  word,  which  was  the  ground  of  faith  to  the  first  genera- 
tion of  Christians.  Any  one  who  pleases  may  deny  this  unity  of 
the  written  and  the  oral  word.  I  only  observe,  that,  if  he  does  so, 
he  contradicts  the  "  voice  of  the  congregation." 

It  may  further  be  said,  that  there  is  a  sense  in  which  some  of 
the  New  Testament  Scriptures  are,  as  writings,  anterior  to  Chris- 
tianity, not  only  potentially  but  chronologically.  If  the  ministry 
of  St.  Paul  was  divinely  ordained,  and  used,  to  develop  Christian 
doctrine,  then  that  ministry  was  anterior  to  the  full  development 
of  Christianity.  But  his  Epistles  were  part  of  his  miuistrj',  as 
much  a  part  of  it  as  his  spoken  word  :  may  we  not  say  a  more  im- 
portant part,  as  being,  by  their  character  of  writing,  more  deliber- 
ate and  thorough.  It  follows  that  his  Epistles  are,  as  really  as 
his  oral  teaching,  chronologically  anterior  to  Christianity  as  a 
perfected  system.  Christianity  therefore  stands  upon  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures;  not  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  upon 
Christianity. 


LECT.  VI.  NOTES.  253 

LECTUEE    YI. 

Note  XI.,  p.  156. 

"  Epistolicam  formam  prae  libris  V.  T.  habent  Scripta  N.  T.  et 
in  his  non  solum  Pauli,  Petri,  Jacobi,  Judae,  sed  etiam  uterque 
Lucae,  et  omnes  Johaunis  libri.  Plus  etiam  est,  quod  ipse  Dominus 
Jesus  Christus  suo  nomine  septem  epistolas  dedit,  Johanuis  manu, 
Apoc.  ii.  3,  ac  tota  Apocalypsis  instar  est  epistolge  ab  Ipso  datas. 
Non  ad  servos,  sed  ad  liberos,  eosque  emancipatos  potissimum, 
epistolae  mitti  sunt  solitae :  epistolicumque  scribendi  genus  prae 
quovis  alio  accommodatum  est  ad  regnum  Dei  quam  latissime 
propagandum,  et  ad  animas  quam  locupletissime  sedificandas. 
Plus  in  lioc  quoque  genere  unus  laboravit  Paulus  quam  ceteri 
omnes."  ^ 

Note  XIL,  p.  171. 

The  principle  intimated  in  the  text  is  that  the  ^^ perfection'"^  of 
Christian  doctrine  was  attained  by  the  reading  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment in  the  light  of  the  (elementary)  knowledge  of  Christ;  in 
other  words,  that  the  complete  exposition  of  the  Gospel  was  the 
result  of  a  combination  of  the  facts  and  the  words  of  the  old  dis- 
pensation with  the  facts  and  the  words  of  the  new,  a  combination 
effected  in  the  minds  of  the  Apostles  under  the  teaching  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  who  thus  brought  to  light  the  meaning  and  the  scope 
of  his  own  earlier  inspirations,  preserved  in  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets.  This  method  of  divine  teaching  is  exhibited  in  action, 
and  exemplified  at  length,  in  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  to  the 
Hebrews.  It  does  in  fact  constitute  and  create  those  two  precious 
writiugs ;  which,  while  they  are  arguments  addressed  to  others, 
appear  to  be  also  records  of  the  course  of  thought  and  formation 
of  opinion  in  the  minds  of  the  writers  themselves.  They  use  for 
the  education  of  other  minds  the  same  means  and  materials  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  had  first  prepared,  and  then  used,  for  the  educa- 
tion of  their  own. 


1  Bengelii,  Gnomon,  in  Bom.  LI.  2 reXeidnif. 

22 


254  NOTES.  Lect.  VI. 

E.  g.  The  mind  of  St.  Paul  having  received  the  fundamental 
principle  of  justification  by  grace  through  faith  in  Christ,  seems 
to  have  defined  and  systematized  his  doctrine  on  that  subject,  by 
refiectiou  on  his  own  experience  of  what  the  Law  could  do  and  of 
what  it  could  not  do,  on  the  principle  enunciated  by  Habakkuk, 
that  "the  just  shall  live  by  his  faith,"  on  the  fact  that  Abraham, 
"  being  yet  uncircumcised,  believed  God,  and  it  was  counted  unto 
him  for  righteousness,"  on  David's  description  of  "  the  man  to 
whom  the  Lord  imputeth  righteousness  without  works,"  &c.,  &c. 
The  writer  to  the  Hebrews,  again,  in  his  penetrating  and  profound 
treatment  of  a  multitude  of  Old  Testament  texts  and  of  the  whole 
system  of  the  first  covenant,  not  only  instructs  the  disciples  whom 
he  addresses,  but  also  incidentally  shows  in  what  way  their 
teachers  had  themselves  been  taught,  namely,  by  means  of  the 
former  Scriptures,  read  in  connection  with  the  Gospel  facts,  and 
under  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

I  do  not  mean  that  precisely  the  same  passages  which  they 
think  fittest  for  instructing  others  had  been  effectual  to  their  own 
enlightenment,  but  that  they  had  gained  their  own  perfect  light 
from  these  and  others  like  them,  and  that  they  had  themselves 
been  taught  through  the  same  medium  which  they  employ.  St. 
Paul's  manner  of  using  the  Old  Testament  seems  continually  to 
imply  his  own  personal  obligations  to  it. 

Some  may  think  that  this  view  of  the  manner  in  which  the  truth 
was  cleared  to  the  minds  of  its  first  teachers  is  inconsistent  with, 
or  at  least  derogatory  to,  their  inspiration ;  since  it  implies  the 
processes  of  study,  reflection,  comparison,  deduction,  a  gradual 
increase  in  the  fulness  and  proportions  of  their  knowledge,  and  a 
progress  of  doctrine  in  their  own  minds.  Certainly  it  implies  all 
this,  and  that  is  a  reason  not  against,  but  for  its  truth ;  for  the 
Apostolic  writings  appear  to  bear  witness  to  such  processes  and 
such  progress  in  the  minds  of  their  authors.  Had  it  been  the 
purpose  of  these  Lectures  to  consider  the  Progress  of  Doctrine  in 
this  sense,  the  view  taken  of  it  would  have  been  in  accordance 
with  the  observation  of  Bengel,  that  when  the  Pauline  discourses 
and  writings  are  placed   in   chronological   order,  "a  spiritual 


LeCT.  VI.  NOTES.  255 

growth  of  the  Apostle  is  perceived."^  Such  a  view  has  no 
kindred  with  that  which  has  been  hazarded  by  Professor 
Jowett  and  others,  and  which  treats  the  later  teachiug,  not  as  an 
expansion,  but  as  a  reversal  of  the  earlier ;  not  as  a  more  full  and 
definite,  but  as  an  absolutely  different  doctrine.  The  doctrine 
was  always  one,  its  full  development  being  implied  in  its  first 
elements,  but,  like  any  other  large  system  of  thought,  taking  time 
to  unfold  itself,  first  in  the  minds  of  the  teachers,  and  then  in  the 
Church  which  they  taught.  The  instrument  used  for  this  purpose 
was  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  was  so  from  the 
very  first.  When  their  Lord  taught  them  personally  after  his 
resurrection  it  was  through  this  medium.  "  He  expounded  unto 
them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning  himself;  "  "Then 
opened  he  their  understandings,  that  they  might  understand  the 
Scriptures,  and  said  unto  them,  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it 
behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day, 
and  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in 
his  name  among  all  nations."  (Luke  xxiv.  27,  45-47.)  It  is  scarcely 
less  evident  that  the  same  method  was  pursued  in  their  subsequent 
illumination  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  the  light  which  they 
enjoyed  was  a  light  which  was  reflected  from  the  Scriptures. 
That  which  the  Lord,  before  his  departure,  did  by  word  of  mouth, 
is  precisely  that  which,  after  his  departure,  he  did  by  the  Holy 
Ghost;  "Then  opened  he  their  understandings  that  they  might 
understand  the  Scriptures." 

There  is  nothing  in  this  view  of  the  case  derogatory  to  the  ful- 
ness of  their  inspiration,  for  the  inspiration  in  which  we  believe 
is  not  one  which  in  its  general  action  supersedes  the  natural  pro- 
cesses of  the  mind,  but  one  which  mingles  itself  with  them,  and 
insures  the  truth  of  their  results.  In  making  the  former  Scriptures 
the  means  of  enlightening  the  authors  of  the  later  Scriptures,  the 
Holy  Spirit  established  the  continuity  of  his  own  teaching,  and 
built  the  Church  "upon  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and 
Prophets,"  amalgamating  the  two  foundations  into  one.  It  is 
from  his  own  experience  that  St.  Paul  says  to  Timothy  (albeit  not 

^"Incrementum  Apostoli  spirituale  cognoscitur."— Gnomon,  Rom.  i.  1. 


256  "    NOTES.  Lect.VI. 

impowered  by  the  Apostolic  inspiration),  "The  Holy  Scriptures 
(of  the  Old  Testament)  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation 
(o-e  ao4>i(rat  ei<:  <ToiTr,pCav)  through  faith  which  is  in  Jesus  Christ."  (2 
Tim.  iii.  15.)  The  force  of  the  expression  lies  in  the  ao(}>i<Tac.  The 
Gospel  Timothy  has  already  received ;  the  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  he 
already  has;  and  therefore  he  is  actually  in  possession  of  the 
salvation :  but  the  wisdom  (<ro<>ta)  appertaining  to  this  salvation  he 
is  to  seek  by  means  of  the  Scriptures  (ra  Sum/xeva  o-oc^iVaO.  This 
<To4>ia  corresponds  to  the  reAeid-n}?  (of  doctrine)  spoken  of  in  Heb. 
vi.  1,  which  is  there  illustrated  by  the  exquisite  example  of 
spiritual  exegesis,  on  the  passage  "  Thou  art  a  priest  forever  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek."  Elsewhere,  again,  the  Apostle  adverts 
to  this  character  of  his  doctrine,  "Hovvbeit  we  speak  wisdom 
among  them  that  are  perfect "  {ao<}>iav  e*-  rots  xeAeioi?,  1  Cor.  ii.  6) ; 
and  there  the  method  of  its  exposition  is  described  by  the 
remarkable  expression  (of  somewhat  doubtful  meaning),  evSiSaicTolg 

TTveu/xaTOS  aytou  Trt'eu/xaTt/cot?  nvevixaTiKO.  avyKpivovrei;  (vcr.    13).       it   SCCmS   tO 

me  that  the  interpretation  of  these  words  is  best  derived  from^the 
fact,  everywhere  apparent  in  the  Apostle's  writings,  namely,  his 
habit  of  working  out  all  the  more  recondite  and  (if  I  may  use  the 
word)  scientific  parts  of  the  Evangelical  doctrine  by  the  aid  of 
the  Old  Testament,  the  types,  images,  and  sentences  of  which 
were,  we  know,  in  his  sight  Trveu^an/ca.  Dean  Alford's  objection  to 
this  interpretation,  as  given  by  Chrysostom,  is  founded  upon  his 
treatment  of  the  word  tTvyKptVetv,  as  if  it  meant  barely  to  prove  or 
interpret.  I  think  that  Chrysostom's  illustrations,  in  the  passage 
referred  to,  suggest  a  larger  meaning  than  this ;  but  even  the 
latter  of  these  words,  taken  in  its  full  sense,  would  be  a  more 
adequate  and  exact  rendering  than  that  which  is  adopted  in  its 
place,  "putting  together  spirituals  with  spirituals,"  i.  e.  attaching 
spiritual  words  to  spiritual  things.  The  avyKpiveiv  will  more  properly 
represent  a,  process  of  thought  and  judgment  than  a  mere  method  of 
expression :  it  does  in  fact  most  aptly  represent  that  process  which 
we  actually  see  in  the  Epistles,  in  which  the  Trvev/xaTtKa  of  the  old 
covenant  are  combined  with  those  of  the  new  in  order  to  establish 
and  elucidate  the  doctrine  which  is  delivered.  The  appropriation 
of  the  Old  Testament  icords  to  express  the  New  Testament  doc- 


Lect.  VI.  NOTES.  257 

trines  is  a  part  of  this  elucidation :  e.  g.  the  application  of  the  old 
terms  of  sacrifice  and  lustration,  to  describe  the  nature  of  the 
death  and  the  eflfect  of  the  blood  of  Christ. 

Note  XIII.,  p.  172. 

"As  Luther  complained  of  the  Epistle  of  James,  that  it  was  not 
occupied  with  Christ,  so  in  more  recent  times  an  inclination  has 
been  exhibited  to  regard  James,  as  he  appears  to  us  in  his  Epistle, 
as  the  representative  of  the  faith  of  the  earliest  Christians ;  and 
hence  it  has  been  deduced  that  the  Ebiouitic  doctrine  was  the 
primitive;  a  conclusion  in  every  respect  over-precipitate!  For, 
first,  the  design  of  James  is  such,  that  it  does  not  fall  to  him  to  set 
forth  in  order  the  faith  and  its  contents,  but  to  maintain  the  ttiVti? 
rather  according  to  its  ethical  signiflcancy,  and  to  contend  against 
all  antinomianism.  The  irCm.^  he  pre-supposes ;  he  does  not  seek 
to  plant  it  for  the  first  time ;  and  hence  it  is  incompetent,  nay, 
unjust  to  him,  to  treat  his  Epistle  as  if  he  began  with  the  beginning 
and  meant  to  set  forth  the  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity, 
which  as  yet  were  not  in  dispute.  But,  secondly,  it  would  be  still 
more  hazardous  from  this  short  Epistle  —  which,  according  to  its 
avowed  design,  aims  to  unfold  the  ethical  and  not  the  dogmatical 
aspect  of  Christian  truth — to  form  an  estimate  of  James  uni- 
versally ;  of  whom  we  have  no  right,  since  in  other  respects  he  is 
at  one  with  the  synoptic  tradition,  to  assume  that  in  respect  to 
Christological  ideas  he  stands  opposed  to  it.  Thirdly,  utterly  un- 
true is  the  assumption  that  James  is  to  be  viewed  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  faith  of  the  earliest  Christianity.  Eather  is  his 
letter,  with  its  polemic  against  a  one-sided  faith,  an  evidence  that 
there  was  another  tendency  in  the  Church,  which  laid  chief  stress 
on  faith,  not  in  its  ethical  purifying  power,  but  viewed  principally 
as  an  object  of  knowledge,  croi^t'a;  consequently,  more  in  respect 
of  its  dogmatic  import,  and  that  in  a  fruitless  way,  and  which  held 
participation  in  Christianity  in  this  sense  for  justifying.  Over 
against  this  theoretical  faith  he  places  that  which  is  practical. 
Still  more  weighty  is  what  we  would  adduce  fourthly,  viz.,  that 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  to  the  individuality  of  James  the  ethical 


258  NOTES.  Lect.  VI. 

was  the  most  congenial,  and  hence  drew  him  to  give  especial  effect 
to  the  refutation  of  this  false  tendency."  ^ 

Dorner  goes  on  to  show  that  the  ethic  of  St.  James  is  a 
Christian  ethic,  and  then  to  point  out  the  actual  Christological 
features  of  the  Epistle.  The  result  is,  "  that  James  had  before  Mm 
the  Chnstian  presupposition  in  anthropological  and  soteriological 
form  "  —  a  sufficiently  alarming  sentence,  which,  however,  I  print 
in  italics,  because  it  gives  the  precise  point  to  which  I  have  wished 
to  speak  in  the  text,  namely,  that  a  considerate  examination  of 
the  Epistle  shows,  that  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  manifestation  of 
Christ  in  the  flesh,  and  of  the  mystery  of  redemption  and  salva- 
tion, is  presupposed  as  already  known  and  accepted  both  by  the 
writer  and  by  those  to  whom  he  writes.  It  is  this  pre-supposition 
which  justifies  the  place  which  is  assigned  to  the  Epistle  in  the 
course  of  divine  instruction. 

1  Dorner,  on  the  Person  of  Christ,  Introduction,  pp.  62, 63. 


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